Fate is but a Probability Higher than Average
by Sirius Canis Black
Summary: Kiritsugu was given the perfect artefact to summon the strongest Servant in the Caster class, but he wasn't entirely ready for who appeared in front of him. / Tokiomi was left wondering about the identity of the Archer answering him in the place of the Heroic Spirit he sought. At least he seemed dedicated to protect his daughter. AU Fate/Zero, AU Caster, Archer x Rin
1. Chapter 1: Summoning

**Summary**: Kiritsugu was given the perfect artefact to summon the strongest Servant in the Caster class, but he wasn't entirely ready for who appeared in front of him. / Tokiomi was left wondering about the identity of the Archer answering him in the place of the Heroic Spirit he sought. At least he seemed dedicated to protect his daughter.

Set in alternate version of Fate/Zero storyline. Non-canon Caster (As such, not tagged as character, it would cause more confusion). Warnings for author being a hopeless Archer x Rin shipper.

Rated M, because you know, fight to the death Holy Grail War. Might have some MA if I will be feeling up to it.

* * *

**Chapter 1** \- Summoning

Emiya Kiritsugu gazed at the clear crystal blade on the altar with a deep seated trepidation. He was a man who trusted his gut feeling above all, but at the same time, there was no way for him to reject such a great gift from the Einzbern family, who gave him a genuine chance at achieving his ambitious goal. Even now he wasn't entirely sure if it was at all possible to reach it, but he had to believe in it wholly, there was no place for any hesitation in the war he was about to enter.

"Worry not my dear, without the shadow of a doubt the catalyst you hold will offer you the strongest Servant to partake in this Holy Grail War." The sweet voice of his wife pulled Kiritsugu from his dark reverie. He glanced up with a small smile on his otherwise grim face, fully acknowledging the silver-haired woman next to him.

"You misunderstand Iri," he replied, his features a hint softer than moments before as he gazed into the dark ruby eyes of the woman. "I would hardly think that the catalyst your family prepared for me would be unsuitable. On the contrary, I'm truly amazed that an artifact as impressive as this could be acquired. Of course I shouldn't expect any less of the illustrious Einzbern family."

"Yet there is something bothering you."

Kiritsugu had no choice but accept how well his wife was able to pick up on his moods. It would have almost scared him if she didn't have his absolute trust.

"Even if this is but a fragment of the full sword," his monotone carried across the empty chapel they were standing in. "Unusable as it is now by us Mages, there is no doubt about its identity. I know without a question that using this sword, we can summon its original owner, Zelretch the Wizard Marshall."

"And he has been one of the most powerful Mages in history." Supplied Irisviel with a profound conviction shining in her wine-like orbs. "He will be leagues beyond any of the other Servants, not to mention Caster's combat style should suit yours quite well. The two of you will be an unstoppable force on the battlefield, no wonder my great grandfather chose him for you."

"I don't doubt that." Conceded the black haired man, his eyes closing in assent. "What does worry me though is just how overwhelming the Jeweled Old Man's power is going to be. A tool is but a tool, nothing more or less, and that should be true for a Servant too: only an addition to its master's repertoire. Yet how am I to utilize the full potential of my tool if it is too powerful for me to take full control of?"

"I have suspected you to mull over something like that, my dear." Illyasviel nodded perceptively, as her husband finally turned away from the Jeweled sword laid neatly on the altar of the magnificently carved Einzbern chapel.

"But I believe that your fears are unfounded." She spun around to follow the movement of the man she grew to love with all her heart. "Zelretch may have been a dead apostole, and quite eccentric as well, but he was rightfully called a friend of humanity. He fully proved that when he died defending human civilization. He shared our ideals dear, I truly don't think there is anyone more befitting to be partnered with you."

"I'm not so sure about that." Kiritsugu countered, his eyes downcast, scrutinizing the cold, hard stone floor as his steps carried him over to the carved wooden benches where he sat down, facing the homunculus. "Even if we have detailed records of Zelretch, we cannot be sure how well some of the sources can be trusted. Historians have a penchant for romanticizing certain details in order to make their stories more attractive. For all we know the old devil just got hailed as a champion of justice, and was in fact quite twisted. Given a new corporeal vessel for his immense magic, who knows what he will do, and how much we will be able to do about it. If stopping him will be possible at all."

"But this is exactly why my great-grandfather choose you for this task." The woman in the elegant white dress replied with a determined, passionate tone. "If there is anyone on this world cunning and determined enough to command someone like the Wizard Marshall Zelretch, it is you, my dear husband, Emiya Kiritsugu."

The dark eyed man huffed quietly, and shifted his gaze previously having rested on his beautiful wife to stare at a spot on the wall, without really looking at it.

"Sometimes I wonder if I really deserve the level of trust you or Acht place in me." Before his wife could protest indignantly, he continues with an amused half-smile. "Nonetheless, I will try my best to live up to that trust, and hope my guile will be enough to deal with it all."

* * *

"Are you sure Tokiomi that it is a good idea to let her stay? Will she not be just in more danger this way, not to mention be a distraction for us?" The dark robed priest, Kotomine Kirei enquired politely from his now former master in magecraft, while he glanced back at the small girl with blue eyes peeking in through the doorway, glaring daggers at him. In a show of distaste, she proceeded to stick her tongue out at the impassive face of the man. Despite the provocation, his expression remained emotionless.

"I sent her mother and the servants away as they lack magic, but Rin is already proficient, considering her age she exudes quite a bit of prana. Given the situation she would be easy and attractive prey for any Masters looking to power up their Servant, and then we haven't even considered the danger that Mage Slayer could pose. Looking at his history of using underhanded methods, I wouldn't put it past him to target her. It is better to keep her close where we can protect her, she is the Tohsaka heir after all, the next Second Owner in line, too valuable to be risked."

"Would you at least consider not letting her attend the summoning? It might not be suitable for someone of her age." Kirei continued to ignore the hostility emanating from the tiny ball of energy behind him, as he addressed the Tohsaka head. He has always been awkward around children, and Rin really did not make it easy for him.

"It's best if she observes," the man wearing the red suit reasoned as he continued to finalize the preparations in the basement room without paying too much mind to what was happening behind him. A sizeable red crystal pendant shimmered ominously in the dim candlelight as it lay on the table nearby, next to a slab of rock that displayed an almost grotesque mark of a creature. "After all, one day she might have to repeat this ritual by herself. This should be good experience for her as a Mage even if that was not the case."

Tohsaka Tokiomi sighed as he straightened up, and faced the other two occupants of the dark room.

"Come in properly Rin," he imparted with an encouraging glint in his eyes. "No need to be afraid, you can trust your father's ability to successfully complete the summoning, and call forth the strongest Servant of the war, who will win the Holy Grail without fail."

"Of course Father can do it!" The little girl's face brightened as she hopped inside the room, the air of childish excitement clear around her, as her fervent words resonated back from the thick stone walls.

Kirei bit back a frustrated sigh.

* * *

Blinding light filled the lavishly decorated chapel, and the prana contributing to the summoning fizzled as it generated sharp currents of radiating warm waves of air, telling signs of the strength of the magic at work. As the swirling mana dimmed and cleared to reveal a figure, the man standing at the front of the magic circle, dressed in simple, but stylish black clothes stammered backwards, eyes wide in disbelief, mouth slightly agape at the sight that greeted him.

There was a gasp from the back of the altar, behind the circle, but Kiritsugu paid little mind to his wife right now. His entire body's attention, down to the last nerve cell receptor was trained at the person he desperately wished he wasn't seeing in the middle of his summoning circle.

"It can't…" his voice faltered, an occurrence that hasn't happened any time recently, his brain registered numbly. He refused to acknowledge the truth before him, no matter if supported by all his senses. He absolutely couldn't accept that he has failed, no, not when he was so close…!

"Oh my, were you expecting someone else?"

The terse voice filled to the brim with sickly sweet honey that barely concealed the scathing sarcasm finally pulled him from his stupor and his eyes focused in on the woman facing him wearing an amused smirk. His eyes scanned her with lighting fast motions, taking in her every detail, and his brain processed everything at an even quicker pace.

Female. Early- to mid-thirties. Average height. Slim build. Long, slightly wavy white hair with single strands glistening sporadically with unnatural light across them. Eyes a frighteningly cold metallic grey, filled with deep seated passion and swirling magic not concealed in the slightest. Relaxed, confident stance that implied ample battle experience, possibly some martial arts too. Clothes white with silver edges, snugly fit around the torso, but loose and flowing around the limbs, allowing for adequate movement in combat, even in close quarters. No obvious weapons in sight, though plenty of folds in the clothing to conceal items. The fabric however, entirely unrecognizable to him, no matter how he raked his brain. He could see no seams, no grains, no wrinkles, and the gleam that it cast seemed to be much more than the candlelight playing tricks. The only thing he could be sure of right now was that the woman's outfit, her hair and the crown of her head was adorned with countless magnificent jewels, giving her a truly regal appearance.

Most notably though he could not feel even a hint of magical presence coming from her, contradicting her very obviously magic infused exterior appearance. At least he couldn't detect anything other than the link of a Master and Servant that lay unmistakably between them. The thought sincerely terrified him, as it meant that her magical skills were on a level where she could conceal her magic to such a degree without the slightest effort. He knew instantly that she easily outclassed any mage he has encountered in his life before. Possibly including the Director of the Clock Tower, though he has only seen him from a distance, so he couldn't be sure.

"Are you going to answer me or what?" The irritated tone, and scrunched up, delicate nose contrasted wildly with the exquisite appearance of the spirit before him. Nonetheless, the man ignored the whole remark, and posed his own question, straight to the point.

"Who are you?"

"You know, you are quite rude to ask a question like that without even introducing yourself." Deadpanned the woman in the circle, as she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed ruefully. "In any case, you can call me Caster."

"No, I knew that already, I meant your True Name as a Heroic Spirit."

"And why should I give my name to an uncouth, nameless man?" Came the haughty reply.

"I am Emiya Kiritsugu, and I have summoned you as my servant in the Holy Grail War." Stated the dark haired man with an unreadable, hard lined face and unwavering voice. "Do you perhaps not accept me as your Master?"

It did not escape Kiritsugu's notice how the woman's colour lacking eyes widened by a fraction of a millimeter at hearing his name, but it was gone before he could even exhale a breath. The only way he could tell he did not imagine it was by how pointedly blasé her face turned.

"Kiritsugu-san then," she decided on the way to address him without leaving any room for objection, her voice back to that fake sweetness, complete with a faux smile. "Would you be so kind as to tell me which Holy Grail was this one is? I don't seem to yet have accustomed to this world, my sense of time and space appears to be a little confused still."

The dark eyes of the man narrowed with suspicion. This… no, _his _Servant, he reminded himself, was avoiding giving her name. Not to mention, she reacted to his introduction like she remembered his name, and choose to be rather informal with him. For some strange reason she was also keenly interested in the number of the war she was to participate in, a fact that he wouldn't have thought would interest a Servant, given how they should not recall previous rounds of Grail battles even if they were fighting in some before. Several theories were already being evaluated by his highly analytical brain, but he needed more information first.

"The Fourth Holy Grail War, and you are currently in the Einzbern castle, Germany."

There! She not only tensed at the mention of the number four, but there was also clear recognition in her metallic eyes at the Einzbern name too. No matter who his Caster was, she seemed to know a lot more about what was going on than she let on. She recovered quickly once again, if his senses weren't so keen he would have missed her reactions. Perhaps sensing his scrutiny to be dangerous, she turned around, and her eyes fell on the object on top of the altar.

"Oh, I see. You were trying to summon the Old Man. No doubt you would be surprised at finding me in his place. But fear not, my power greatly exceeds what you could have hoped for."

Kiritsugu remained silent as he digested the additional details entering his brain. He was yet to decide on a strategy. He was sure though that he needed to thread carefully.

"Can you then repair his sword?" the melodic voice of his silver haired wife sounded for the first time since the spirit was summoned. The man in dark clothes applauded the homunculus for sounding so sure and nonchalant, as if she was just inquiring about the weather over a cup of afternoon tea. All the same, he was positive that Irisviel was beyond nervous, her body language easily giving away her concern. What did not escape his attention either was the rigidly straight back of Caster as she stared at the other light haired woman.

"I'm afraid that would necessitate both far too much time and resources." The light tone of the spirit inside the circle gave nothing more away, even under the hawk-like gaze of the former mercenary. On the other hand, he quite easily picked up on the crestfallen slump of the red eyed homunculus' shoulder. In contrast to the gullibility of his wife, he waited with bated breath for the Servant to continue, and he was certainly not disappointed. "However, I would hope that my own model would satisfy your needs."

There wasn't enough time for Kiritsugu to even blink as his brain dully registered how the peculiar woman drew seemingly just from the folds of her white and silver dress (he was certain that it was actually out of thin air) a brilliantly shimmering Jeweled Sword, far more elegantly carved than Zelrecht's already impressive masterpiece. At the same time, his body valiantly struggled against the oppressive force of the dense prana flooding the whole of the chapel, and he was sure some of the crackling noises he heard wasn't just magical fizzle, but wood and stone splintering and cracking under the insane pressure.

His Caster was smiling serenely, her stance completely relaxed as she stood half-turned towards him, half towards Irisviel, who was kneeling on the floor, taking heavy breaths of the air thick with energy from the activation of the Second Magic. At the beat of the buzzing of the magic surrounding them strands of the silver haired female spirit's mane were lighting up with multiple colours, an effect mirrored by fine patterns on her dress. The black haired man could also feel the jewels on her body resonate with the power of the sword, and pulse with dormant prana.

After seeing and feeling all of the above, nothing scared him as much as the fact that his Servant was taking next to no energy through their connection, hammering in the fact that she did conjure up the Jeweled Sword truly as effortlessly as she made it look. Kiritsugu knew without a doubt that the weapon wasn't even close to being the spirit's Noble Phantasm, and he idly wondered if it was possible that the reason he couldn't sense prana from the spirit was simply that he was unable to comprehend her power level, rather than any of it being concealed.

That was the moment when the thought crystallized in the dark eyed man's consciousness that his worst fear has come true: he summoned a being well beyond his (or anyone's he knew of, for that matter) ability to control. He has released a potential monster with nothing to stand in its way, apart from three command spells.

Kiritsugu could feel his blood being on fire as he watched with morbid fascination the figure in his summoning circle. He could not deny the excitement he felt at the concept of figuring out a way to manipulate this ridiculosly powerful existence to be his tool, and do his bidding.

* * *

As the magically generated mist dissipated somewhat in the cramped space of his basement, Tohsaka Tokiomi could feel his heart drop, an icy fear chilling his body as he desperately tried to see the Servant who wasn't there. He couldn't quite believe that he has failed, even as all his gaze could find was his daughter still desperately clutching the red jewel he gave her to protect herself with if anything were to go wrong, and his darkly dressed former apprentice. That is until the crash sounding from upstairs registered into his brain, and he finally felt the magical link.

He was at the living room door in a matter of seconds, his steps Reinforced with magic unconsciously triggered due to his barely contained anticipations. He threw the heavy door open without a hint of hesitation, and proceeded to marvel at the sight that greeted him: his normally elegant living room was in shambles, but more importantly a man with wild, white hair, tanned skin, and a muscular build clad in black and red fabric was casually sitting on his living room couch.

"Hooh, could you be my Master?" the man he identified as his Servant asked in an amused, rugged voice, his silver eyes calmly looking the magus up and down.

"That is correct," Tokiomi answered in a careful way, tone and body language radiating respect. Though he would have expected a grander appearance, if this spirit was the one he was after, he couldn't afford to offend him. "It was I, Tohsaka Tokiomi, head of the Tohsaka family, the Second Owner of Fuyuki City, who called for your assistance. If I may enquire about your identity…"

The slight widening of the white haired man's steel coloured eyes did not escape the blue eyed mage's notice. However, in another moment, any signs of surprise was erased by a cocky grin and a teasing glint in his cold eyes.

"I fear that I cannot comply with your request, Master: I seem to not remember my human name. There must have been something that went wrong during your summoning."

The magus in the red suit was silent, but he knew perfectly well that he made no mistake, his technique and preparations have been impeccable, and he had the ideal catalyst. On the other hand, disagreeing with his spirit Servant would not have accomplished anything at this point with him showing just as much open disrespect in his tone as the reverence the Tohsaka head has addressed him with previously.

"Tokiomi-san, which of the servants did you end up summoning?" the dull monotone of his apprentice broke the silence. The blue eyed magus wasn't sure at what point the dark haired man arrived. As usual his presence was difficult to detect, not unlike in character to his Servant's, Assassin's manifestation behind him.

"Master, that is an enemy Master and Servant right there. Do you want me to deal with him?" the Servant in the red jacket sounded eerily calm, but Tokiomi detected both the slight strain in his dark voice, and the hidden bloodlust in his steely eyes. He appeared terribly eager to unleash a world of pain on the darkly clothed former executioner and his Servant, yet at the same time he made a conscious effort to conceal the emotion. There could have been various justifications for this behavior, and he made a point to pay close attention to his Servant's subtle reactions to people in the future. The tall spirit looked to be skilled at controlling his emotions, possibly also at lying, but if anything, Tokiomi was observant, a talent he couldn't have been a successful magus without.

"No, that is Kirei Kotomine, my former student, and current ally in this Holy Grail War. We will be working closely together."

"Hm, I would not be so trusting of someone seeking the same prize as me." The spirit's stance did not relax completely, and his voice was still laced with animosity behind the jeer, but any detectable hints of bloodlust were gone. Instead, his icy eyes were assessing the perfectly blank face of Kirei, silently trying to intimidate the impassive priest, and not succeeding.

"Who knows when one such person would prioritize his own goals over yours? Humans are fickle little things like that." Stated the silver haired man with a sardonic smile after he ended his one sided staring contest with Kirei.

"That is quite enough of you." Reproached his servant Tokiomi with a stern voice. By now it was clear to him that whoever he summoned was nowhere as prideful, or powerful for the matter, as who he had aimed for, and he decided he would be better off showing his assertion in the face of his Servan't sarcasm than playing along. "Kirei shares the same goal as me, and I trust him fully. On the other hand, I would also be interested in your class, Servant, and what of your abilities you can remember. We need to revise our battle strategy accordingly."

"Oh, I hope my blindly trusting Master won't be too disappointed then to learn he has summoned Archer." Quipped the tall, muscular man in a mocking tone as he folded his arms over his wide chest.

"Not at all, in fact I was trying to call specifically that class." The Tohsaka head explained calmly, his hands folded behind his back, all the while completely ignoring the blatant insult from his Servant. "However, with the catalyst I was using, I would have expected a particular spirit to respond, who I'm afraid doesn't at all fit your description."

His Servant was silent as he watched him intently, and sensing he gave up for now at trying to provoke him, Tokiomi continued.

"None of that matters now that it is you who have responded." Sighed the dark haired magus, then his face hardened as he carried on. "It is of no concern whether I have the most powerful Servant or not. With careful planning, if we utilize our resources in the most effective manner, we can still defeat our adversaries without any problems. Even the most powerful enemies have their weaknesses that if identified will lead to their downfall."

"Hmph, aren't I lucky to have been paired with such a thoughtful Master?" Nodded Archer, and Tokiomi wasn't sure if his voice carried any genuine approval, or if it was all cynicism again. The smug grin that followed was unmistakable though. "Nonetheless, it would seem that you are quite mistaken, Master. I don't think you have any reason to believe that you have summoned less than the most powerful Servant."

"That is something yet to be seen, Archer." Tokiomi responded, his crystal clear blue eyes meeting the smokey grey pair of his servant without any fear or hesitation, standing up to the unspoken challenge in them.

"Father… Father! Did it appear? Is it here?" the loud animation of his daughter's voice announced her presence several moments before she actually appeared. The man dressed in the red suit concluded that she must have been a bit disoriented after the ritual to arrive so much later, even if her legs were significantly shorter, and still lacking the crests for Reinforcements.

Tokiomi was about to turn around to check on his constantly lively child, but he halted halfway in the motion as he caught sight of the myriad of emotion plastered on his white haired Servant's face. First, there was a deep seated shock, followed by an unrestrained eagerness, and as his daughter's form was reflected in the silver eyes they revealed not only recognition, but a tinge of … fondness? Mixed with sadness, and longing?

The magus was intensely confused by what he was seeing. Wasn't it the first time the spirit saw the girl? Even if he had a soft spot for children, which would have been greatly unusual for a Heroic Spirit in and of itself, that still would not have been suitable to explain the weight of the feelings visible on the spirit warrior's face. Soon though, the tanned featured were schooled back to indifference, and Tokiomi was left wondering if he had imagined it all.

"Is that him? Wow, he is big and scary! He looks strong too! Nothing less from Father, right? Of course he would get the best Servant!" The girl almost squealed in delight, noticing none of the serious looks cast her way. In comparison, the minute blush of embarrassment on the tanned cheeks at the genuine praise didn't go without being spotted by the dark haired fire mage.

"Yes, this is Archer, Rin. Also, do try to utilize a bit more grace in your conduct, you are the next Tohsaka head after all." He chided lightly at the child skipping towards his white haired Servant without holding back on her excitement at all. At his scolding she turned beet red, her short legs clambering to fulfill her father's wish, quite possibly looking far less graceful in the process than before his comment.

As Tokiomi marveled at the clumsy eagerness of his daughter, he caught sight of Kirei, who was still silently observing all that unfolded in the room. He almost forgot about him. The priest was indeed excellent at avoiding detection even without trying.

"Archer, I have your first task for you." The blue eyed magus addressed his Servant, who looked at him with anticipation. "I need to discuss with Kirei-kun the best way for how to alter our strategy for the war. In the meantime, watch over my daughter."

He didn't have to wait long to be rewarded by an indignant bark of "I'm not some baby sitter, damn it! What do you think Servants are?"

"Don't swear in front of a child, Archer." Was all he dispassionately supplied him with before leaving the room, smirking to himself. Kirei followed him soundlessly, leaving the spirit servant alone with the little girl.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hello dear readers, please be kind to me and guide/encourage me with your reviews! I hope you will be enjoying this story with me.

That being said, I would be really happy if someone would be up for betaing this story as I'm quite new to the fandom, and need to be told when I'm breaking the Nasuverse… Please bear with my inexperience!

This first chapter focused on Kiritsugu and Tokiomi, and how differently their summonings turned out in this Alternate Reality. I will be changing most of the other summonings, beyond the obvious ones, but I will be keeping those a surprise, as this story mostly focuses on Kiritsugu, Caster, Tokiomi, Archer and Rin. I will be alternating between these viewpoints.

Ah yes, and of course this Caster is not the same as Fate/Zero or Fate Stay Night Caster. Now, no more on that topic from me for the time being!

The storyline will loosely follow Fate/Zero, but not all scenes will be described, and of course as necessary additional scenes will be added.

Okay, wish me luck, this is the first time I'm serious about a multichapter story, so I hope it goes well!

**Edit A/N 2.0:**

I have not done a story in a while, so sorry for patching up things afterwards. I have added a cover image, but I am not promising if it will happen in this fic or not, but I will admit that it was certainly among my inspirations (and no, don't know where if there is a continuation to that image, I would love to know too).

I'm currently not too sure about the genre, maybe mostly action and pretty serious, will add genre later when it's more solid, but do expect a lot of fluff mixed in because Young Rin and Archer equals vast quantities of fluff.

Also I changed my mind about something (small detail) in the story, and quickly changed it. I guess only early readers might notice, but it is really nothing very big. I just thought it would make more sense like that.


	2. Chapter 2: Committing

**A/N:** Thank you all very much for the faves, follows and reviews! I didn't think there would be such a great response, but it fuelled me to update fast to give you more.

A few things in response to the reviews. I'm aware that Zelrecth is alive in basically all canon Nasuverse, but this fic is an AU setting. It is close to the original, but one of the big differences is that here Zelrecth died a hero's death, defending humanity (his death was not when repelling the moon, but at a later date). This is what allows the Einzberns to consider him a good candidate to pair with Kiritsugu, as they know Caster suits his fighting style, and they know Zelrecth would make a vastly powerful servant. As for the Jeweled Sword, in this reality it was used by Zelrecth at the time of his death, and while it was rendered useless to Mages without knowledge of the Second Magic, a physical part remained after his death that the Einzberns acquired.

Regarding Caster's identity and appearance, all will be explained later, and they are important plot points. I think it's more fun to let you speculate about it in the meantime.

Counter Guardians are also a really important part of the plot (big lol at CG TOHSAKA mentioned in the reviews, but yeah, that's a comedy character), though probably not exactly as you think. Once again, it's better to find out about it in the story.

On the matter of Kirei, I will see how his character develops, but I do consider him a character with low chances of a happy ending. That said, I hope I won't break the Nasuverse too much, but I have some evil plans for who and how would have been also summoned to this war, so don't be too discouraged yet about which Fate/Zero servants will make appearances.

Now, on with the story!

* * *

**Chapter 2 **\- Committing

Archer peered down with one grey eye open at his pintsized companion. His strong arms were folded over his broad chest, his tall form looming over the small girl. Perhaps a normal child would have been intimidated, but Rin appeared way too absorbed in examining his every detail, pure marvel clear on her young face. At least she was quiet, which allowed the spirit to collect his thoughts somewhat.

Being summoned by Rin's father was certainly an unexpected development. He was not too startled to find someone other than the pig-tailed Master he was used to contracted to him, after all it was only nine times out of ten that the fiery Tohsaka girl guided him into another parallel world incarnation of the cursed war (by far the most awkward case was when he found himself face to face with a younger incarnation of himself). Yet this was definitely the first time he was summoned to a previous sequence of the Holy Grail War.

Even in normal cases, memories that he carried over to different realities proved to be of little use, as there was either inherent differences even before his arrival, or his own actions altered the outcome of events. Not to mention, thanks to visiting countless possible scenarios, his memories often jumbled up between them, and he couldn't reliably tell what followed what. He was never sure if being able to keep memories of alternate worlds was a blessing or a curse, but he vaguely recalled that it was Rin of one of those realities who elucidated him about how the phenomenon was due to him being outside of the normal flow of time as a Counter Guardian.

At any rate, in this situation pretty much all of his recollections were completely useless. He had very little information about the fourth war, and he wondered how his interference could have already affected that. For example he knew Kirei Kotomine killed Tohsaka Tokiomi during the war, however he had no idea when, how or why. He wondered if he could, or rather should stop that event from occurring, but he supposed planting the seeds of doubt at least couldn't hurt, the Tohsaka mage was overly trusting of the priest.

The main problem that worried him, was that being a Servant of the man in the red suit meant that he would have to face his own father on the battlefield. While he knew if he played his cards right (and he has discerned Tokiomi would be a good partner in that, the man was undoubtedly clever and meticulous) he could easily corner Saber, who he remembered having served his father, but having a hostile encounter with the man who brought him up with loving care was not something he could look forward to.

Then there was the matter of his past self, and his usual goal of eliminating said past alter ego. He was sure that goal had to be completely abandoned in this timeline, as he could not imagine the dark haired man he had for a Master allowing him to kill a child. Not to mention, he could hardly stomach such an action himself. Instead, maybe he could somehow prevent the Great Fuyuki Fire, which he knew had to do something with the fourth war…

"Where is it?" The demanding, shrill question of the child holding her small hands on her hip, her blue eyes piercing his own pulled him from his reverie.

"Uh… What?" He replied a bit dumbly, having been caught off guard.

"Your weapon." She scrunched up her little noise, and tried to look as tall and intimidating as possible, which mostly just looked comical against Archer's physique. "The one that you will use to defend Father with. Don't tell me you forgot it!"

Archer gaped at the assertive child, who didn't let up at all. Finally a fond smirk found its way to his face. This was his Rin alright, ten years younger or not, Rin was the same.

"There is no need to foolishly brandish a tool of war when the situation calls for it, pipsqueak." Retorted the white haired man, tone patronizing.

"Better watch out for my wrath if that stupid attitude of yours gets my father harmed!" Shouted the enraged little girl back at him, her face a tomato shade. "And don't you dare call me that! I'm a big girl now, I already have a family crest, and I will be the next head of the Tohsaka family!"

"Oh, do you have a better suggestion then for how to address someone so short?" Countered Archer, barely contained mirth sparkling in his normally cold eyes. As could be expected, Rin was much easier to rile up as a child, but just as amusing, if not more so. It certainly helped that she could not retaliate with magical explosions and alike.

"Rin-sama." Announced the child after some consideration. She folded her arms over her tiny chest with the poise of a queen. "You may call me Rin-sama."

Archer choked on a half-suppressed snicker. Definitely more amusing, he decided.

"Well then, I would think this is quite a bit past Rin-sama's bedtime." The silver haired man stated and gathered the small girl up into his strong arms in a single swoop.

"Waaah, put me down you imbecile, I have my own legs!" The blue eyed girl screamed, but no matter how she flailed, the toned arms held her steadily against a broad chest as the man strode purposefully.

"That may be true, but they are way too short carry you at a pace fast enough for my liking." The tanned skinned spirit supplied, without looking down.

"Idiot." The dark haired girl snapped back, but most of the bite was gone from her voice as she relaxed against the warmth of Archer's hold. "You should just listen to what I tell you."

"I have no obligation to listen to your orders." There was a gentle smile playing on his lips as he said this, eyes staring straight ahead, as he opened the door to the girl's room. "I was summoned by your father, and my allegiance is towards him, no one else."

This time Rin was silent as he placed her next to her large bed. He absentmindedly wondered who came up with the idea of making such a little girl sleep alone in such an enormous bed and room. Though of course he knew wasn't easily intimidated.

"Now change, and get to sleep. No more complaining." Archer ordered sternly, and turned to exit the room.

"Water. I can't sleep if you don't bring me a glass of water." Rin stated in a strained voice, her hands balled into fists at her side.

"Eh, didn't I just tell you not to boss me around?" Grumbled the man with a sigh, but he was complying anyway. He supposed getting the water was a small price to pay to get the pesky girl out of his hair, so he could get back to plotting. "You better be ready by the time I'm back."

When he returned, Archer found the girl snuggled under the thick, fluffy blankets, blue eyes fully alert though.

"Your water, Rin-sama." He jibed, as he placed the glass on her bed stand, within her reach.

"Is the great Rin-sama afraid of the dark, by any chance?" Taunted the white haired spirit when the girl kept silent. That finally got her to glare at him, but instead of retorting, she stared at him with a slight rosy blush on her cheeks. Archer waited patiently for her to speak.

"Tell me a bedtime story, Archer."

The tanned man raised a white eyebrow.

"I thought you weren't a little girl anymore." He remarked, then ducked a clumsily aimed pillow. "But shouldn't you ask someone else. Spiritual Servants are not really suited for bedtime stories."

"Mother doesn't have any magic, so she was sent away with the servants, for their protection." Recited the little girl the reason for the emptiness of the huge house while glaring at a spot on the wall opposite to her. "Father is busy preparing for the war, and I wouldn't want Kirei to tell me story even if he was free because he is a dung-head."

Archer stifled a chuckle at the last part, then let his gaze soften as he observed the troubled expression on the blue eyed little magus' face. Children really should not have to look like that, he thought to himself, before determinedly kneeling next to the bed.

"Now, I might not be good at this, but tell me what kind of story you want to hear."

* * *

Caster supposed her situation could have been a lot worse. At least she wasn't summoned by a homicidal maniac. On the other hand, she could have dealt with that kind of master a lot easier. While it wasn't her preference, being summoned to an incarnation of the Fourth War did not really hinder her in achieving her goal, though it did complicate things slightly. Never mind the fact that she set out to oppose a being no sane person would even ponder about, her greatest obstacle right now was god forsakenly irritating man who held the three command seals over her.

In reality of course she would have been able to find a way to neutralize the power of the seals over time if she put enough effort into it, she could have even found a spell to numb the dark eyed man's consciousness and create a puppet out of him to follow her will. Despite her capabilities, Caster ultimately preferred to be working with willing allies who actually contributed to her work, not mindless dolls. It really wasn't her style, no matter what people would have said about her tendencies of subjugation. No, that was just her assertive nature.

In any case, the damned man, Kiritsugu was making any form of collaboration exceedingly difficult. She has been here for a couple of days now, but she still knew next to nothing about the dark clothed man's reason for seeking the Grail or his plans and information about the war, much less what kind of man he really was. All she had to go on was second hand information from his wife, which she knew better than to trust with a man as guarded as him. For heaven's sake the cold man wouldn't even talk to her apart from when it was absolutely necessary. She had seriously contemplated strangling him with the dark tie he wore so casually.

She had to get him to acknowledge her at all cost. Her plan was reckless, but there was no other way.

"Good morning Caster-san. I have brought a coat for you in case you are cold." The sweet voice of one red eyed homunculus she has come to regard here as her only company pulled her from her gloomy thoughts.

"Thank you Irisviel, but there was no need for that." She dismissed the kind offer without even looking at the woman. "The cold helps me think, and it's not like spirit vessels would get sick."

"But it must still feel unpleasant. The temperature is very low up here on the mountain in this season." Argued the white haired woman, herself dressed in warm furs. "Are perhaps the clothes and rooms prepared for you not to your liking Caster-san? I can always arrange for better quality materials…"

"No, there is nothing but lavish luxury in all that the Einzbern family provides me. Really nothing is lacking in your generous hospitality." The woman dressed in the jeweled outfit said in a placating tone.

"If you don't mind me asking," The homunculus queried in a cautious tone, confusion plastered on her sweet face. "Why then are you sitting on top of a snow covered tree, instead of enjoying the facilities of the castle?"

"I like tall places out in the open." Caster's eyes never left the spot she was staring at, but there was a hint of a fond smile on her face, the angle not quite permitting the Einzbern mage to see it.

"Say Irisviel," The spirit suddenly asked, tone changed more serious. "How did Old Man Zelretch die?"

"Oh," The doe-like red eyes of the woman below blinked in surprise at the unexpected question. "He died as a defender of humanity. But it was a gruesome affair truly. It happened around a hundred years ago. Shortly before the war the humans call their First World War Let me see..."

Caster remained silent, letting her companion gather her thoughts. The spirit's eyes bright with magic were still trained at the figure of a black haired man and a small silver haired child in the distance.

"Trouble was stirred when the larger part of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostoles successfully entered into a working alliance, in retaliation to the Church's new practice of equipping the non-magical populace with means to detect and report dead apostoles." The homunculus recounted with a grim look in her wine colored orbs. "The combined power of the Dead Apostole Ancestors in agreement was truly terrifying, and when they realized it themselves, their goals shifted from just subjugating the Church to eradicating all of humanity by turning everyone into dead apostoles."

"Fatalities were very high, and though normal humans initially accepted the explanation of natural disasters, there was no way to conceal the existence of a dead apostole army once it was in place. The war was dubbed the War of Nightmares, unexplainable in nature by non-magical humans to this day." Irisviel paused to draw in a breath, then watch the white mist rise in the freezing air before her as she exhaled. "That was when the Wizard Marshall Zelretch came to the rescue. Having recreated his famed Jeweled Sword, he led what was left of humanity's forces, mages and executioners following out of sight of regular humans. Zelretch faced, and single-handedly defeated most of the allied ancestors, the church working in quick order to seal them. However, the strain was such on his body, that he lost his life on the battlefield. Nonetheless, with his noble sacrifice victory would have been impossible, and as such he was entered into human history as a true hero."

"Huh, the old bastard really made himself an impressive death here." Remarked bemusedly the woman sitting atop the tree branch.

"Caster-san, would I be correct to assume you were a discipline of Zelretch?" Queried the woman dressed in a purple coat and hat.

"Something along those lines." The spirit Servant replied distractedly. "But don't worry Irisviel, I have gone beyond the geezer's abilities. Your husband had not summoned an inferior Caster."

"I never doubted that for a second." The homunculus stated resolutely. "You have shown us Caster-san that your magic is more than suitable compete successfully in the Holy Grail War. I'm merely wondering if you also share your late master's ideals."

The jewel bearing woman sighed wearily. This has been going on for a while.

"You keep telling me Irisviel," Caster started in a bored tone. Her eyes narrowed unbeknownst to the white haired woman below her, as she spotted the targets of her attention entering the area she had prepared. "How Kiritsugu-san is going to fight for the sake of saving the world and all of humanity. And I don't question that you truly believe that."

The homunculus blinked as the Servant dropped with the outmost grace on the snow next to her. It didn't even make a sound.

"But you see, I just have to see for myself the kind of man he really is." The spirit whispered quietly, and the perplexed Irisviel barely registered the apologetic look in her swirling magical eyes before she was gone, leaving a whirlwind in her wake.

An unexplainable sense of dread settled in the pit of the red-eyed woman's stomach.

* * *

Kiritsugu felt a rare sense of happy calm when playing around carelessly with his daughter, even when he knew it could very well be their last, as he was to soon set out for the war. His peace was cruelly shattered though as he felt the intimidating presence behind him. He stilled, hands firmly holding onto the small legs of Illyasviel on his shoulder, who quieted down sensing the abrupt change in the mood.

"I hope I'm not interrupting, Kiritsugu-san." Came the flake sweet voice of his Servant. The dark-eyed man could not discern anything unusual about the tone, but he would never dismiss the alarm bells of his keen senses telling him something was dreadfully wrong.

"Not at all, Caster. Did you need me for something?" The man dressed in a dark suit and jacket replied calmly, but the rigid line of his back showed he was ready for action. He pondered if perhaps his spirit Servant harbored animosity towards him due to him keeping his distance from her, she seemed like a prideful woman, who would not take to being ignored. Truth to be told, he knew his strategy of having his wife subtlety trying to uncover her objectives and allegiances wasn't really working the cautious jewel bearing woman, but he wanted to see what she would do about the situation, and use that information to help him build a realistic profile about her.

"Actually, I was looking for little Illyasviel there." Sounded the syrupy answer from the unusually lightly dressed woman standing in the snow covered forest.

"Really, me?" Cried the small child with excitement, her head turning towards Caster.

"Yes."

Kiritsugu did not have the time to whirl around properly as the raw killing intent descended upon them. He had one arm supporting a confused Illya, the other already having drawn a gun infused with magic bullets that he kept at all times with him. He knew very well though, that as a human he would be no match for the Servant, and was about to activate his Time Accel, but the magic he called on failed to answer him.

"You know of the caster class specialty Kiritsugu-san, don't you?" Rang the mocking, sugar-coated words of the woman pulsating with a barely suppressed magical inferno. The following pause was broken by the involuntary choking sounds from his daughter who struggled to breathe as she was held up high by her tiny neck. "I have set up this area in advance so your Time Alter magic cannot be used here. Nor can you leave until I allow it. So don't look so surprised."

"What do you want with her Caster? I can't imagine her being of much use to someone like you." Ground out the dark-eyed man, body as tense as the string of a drawn bow, but his taut muscles remained motionless. Even in a situation like this, Kiritsugu managed to stay calm, his practiced poker-face effectively masking his inner turmoil as he stared calculatingly at the grandly dressed woman.

"Oh no, but she is." Smiled wickedly the owner of the swirling metallic eyes, voice tranquil and light like she was discussing how the thick white clouds sailed upon the blue sky. "Our contract was never sealed by blood, and you know, before I commit to serving a Master I have to test their resolve. I can't have myself tied down by a weak-willed fool."

The dark eyes of the former mercenary narrowed. He carefully evaluated his options, but there wasn't that much he could do. Even if he was using Time Alter, he would have been easily outclassed by a fully prepared Caster spirit, and he didn't even have his strongest bullets on him. Apart from the command spells he had nothing worthwhile to try, but the War hasn't even started yet, using a command spell at such an early stage…

"If you give me your assent, I'll finalize our bond here and now. Surely you can feel the magical circles I have drawn up here?" As if to support her words, a sizzling sound was heard, as white snow melted away from intricate magical symbols pulsing below them on the ground. "All it needs now is just this little bit of blood in this small girl."

"Why her, Caster? Blood can be supplied from a lot of different sources." The man tried to reason, but he already knew it was futile as he looked into the unwavering metallic eyes shining with fearsome resolve. Had his Servant lost it completely? Or was this some kind of cruel experiment on her part? What was her purpose, his brain whirled at an impossible speed to try to figure it out, but he wasn't seeing a clear pattern.

"The blood has to be pure to be the most effective." Shrugged the white haired woman nonchalantly. Idly observing the squirming child she was slowly choking. "In any case, I will not accept anyone but her. I want to see how determined you are to win the Grail."

Kiritsugu felt that he was trapped, with no way out of it. It wasn't a feeling he hadn't encountered and managed to get out of usually, but this time it wasn't his life at sake, and it wasn't a stranger's fate he would be responsible for. But the dark haired man was no stranger to loosing people precious to him. His mouth hardened into a thin line, but before the dark haired man could say anything, he caught the muffled screaming of what he identified as his wife. He glanced to the side to see her struggling against an invisible barrier that lit up as her pale fists pounded on it. He was sure the distressed woman was crying Illya's name, desperate for the safety of their child.

"So what will it be, Kritsugu-san?" The imposingly clothed spirit "Are you willing to sacrifice your own daughter for the sake of fulfilling your dream? If you give her life to me, her blood on my magic circle will solidify my pledge to obey your every order, but should you prove inept, you can forget about receiving any help from me in this war. We both know that if I refuse to cooperate, three measly command spells could not quite make a difference, so think about it carefully Kiritsugu-san. You must realize you will not have the time or resources to summon a new Servant before the war begins, while the Einzberns could always just build you a new daughter."

At the last part, Caster smiled shrewdly, clearly taunting the man. Kiritsugu's jaw tightened.

"I could hardly do anything to stop you, if you wanted to kill her." He spat at her coolly, matching her glare.

"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT ME!" Bellowed the spiritual woman, her voice amplified several times by the magic that reacted to her fury. He could hear Illya whimper with fear and discomfort within her grasp. It took the regal woman a moment to calm down somewhat and continue, eyes still slightly boiling with indignation. "I just gave my word that I will not harm your daughter if you choose it so. You won't need to use any command spells at all. The price is simply that I will not see it fit to serve you in this war. I will only aid a true magus, who is able to cast away all emotions that tie him down. Are you like that, Kiritsugu-san?"

The man in the dark suit could feel himself getting physically ill watching his daughter struggle for her life at the mercy of the almost completely raw magical being. His limbs were aching to make him jump across to rip the girl from her hold, but he willed his body to keep still. He had to remain calm, and think clearly. Even if he vastly misjudged Caster's character so far (and he didn't have that much to go on yet), this whole situation still held no logic that he could understand.

"I'm growing impatient Kiritsugu-san, and I doubt Illyasviel will last much longer." Sneered the jewel bearing magus. The man realized that she was telling the truth, he could see for himself Illya's movements growing weaker. But then he finally heard the quiet voice of his daughter trembling in the chilly air.

"Da-daddy… Help me…"

Kiritsugu stared into the large, begging red eyes of his daughter, she haven't called him that for years now. He desperately tried to train his senses to detect any deception, to figure out what he was missing, but no matter how he looked, he could see no alternatives. He attempted swallowing, but his entire throat was dry. He could not afford to give up now, no matter what, this was his Fate.

"Complete obedience." His voice was incredibly hoarse, and it hurt to speak, but he carried on. "You will do everything in your power to get me the grail."

"The magic in these crests before your eyes are proof that I am the most powerful Servant, and I will only obey but the strongest Master. Prove yourself to me, and my magic will be yours to command without fail. I will not go back on my words with my magic behind them." The pale lips of the woman moved in slow motion, yet he was feeling too nauseous to be completely following the movements. However, he could still feel the strength of the magic filling the cold air around them. There was no other choice.

"Do with her as you wish."

"Daddy!? No…!"

Kiritsugu turned away, but it was in vain if he hoped to cancel to out the gruesome crunch behind him, followed by the sound of something dropping on the soft snow. He was too scared to look back.

He felt morbidly surreal, like he wasn't really in his own body as he listened the agony-filled sobbing and screaming of his wife. He mechanically turned around, his legs wobbly, and he stared at the scene with empty eyes: the prone, lifeless body of Illya lay in the pale arms of his wife, her small head bobbing at an unnatural angle as Irisviel held the child close. Illya's face had a grotesque display of fear frozen on it, tears still glimmering at the edges of the now dead eyes, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Kiritsugu slowly, unconsciously strode over until he could touch that face that he felt was rightfully accusing him. There was no mistake, it was real. He could still feel a hint of warmth behind the pale skin.

It was finally sinking in that her dear Illya was the limp corpse before him, and no matter how much the man tried to stop them, frightening thoughts assaulted his brain. Was it really worth it? Was a world without Illya really worth it? What was he going to fight for again? Was it really worth the sacrifices? He could feel his knees give way, but he didn't really feel the cold as he slumped into it.

"You disgust me." The stony whisper left the mouth of his Servant, and Kiritsugu's eyes bulged out. "Don't think for a second that I would listen to a word you had to say."

So he killed Illya for nothing, he sacrificed her for just to satisfy the whim of a mad Servant who wouldn't obey him anyway. Another life he crushed in his way to realize his goals. Was it really necessary? If he had at least accomplished something, if he had secured the loyalty of his Servant, but he still failed. Despite everything he gave up. Kiritsugu found he couldn't breathe, and he only vaguely comprehended that his clouded vision was due to tears burning his eyes.

"Hmph, whatever. You don't really deserve it, but I'll let you have another chance at proving your worth to me. You better not screw it up again." The man registered the derisive snort in the jeweled woman's voice, and his brain processed the words, yet he didn't quite understand. "But don't think I will take pity on you. I'm not erasing Illya's memories."

At that moment the body cradled in his wife's arm flickered with a magical mist dissolving off of what looked like a crystalline replica of the small white haired little girl, and his eyes focused in on the terrified face of his real, living and breathing daughter just a few feet away, in a spot that moments ago seemed nothing but a pile of snow.

"Tch, don't be so bewildered, illusions like this are nothing to a wielder of True Magic. You should have understood that already." Snorted the metallic eyed woman, pointedly looking away before soundlessly dematerializing. Still, he could hear her last words, uttered towards him with barely concealed anger. "You better be ready to take responsibility, you bastard."

The coal black eyed man never would have thought he would one day be so grateful that his unnaturally keen senses could be misled so much, nor that he would be thankful to a woman who tortured and played with him as if he was a worthless bug on her shoe. He had no way to deny the relief he felt washing over him either, despite all his convictions before that he was ready to throw away anything for the sake of his goal.

He thought he could bear all the blame, become a monster, and save humanity no matter the cost, but now looking at how his wife embraced their small child with pure bliss written on her beautiful face, an emotion he also couldn't help feeling, maybe he had some things to think about again. Then again, he couldn't just give up on his ideals either, not even when he clearly saw the betrayal burning in his daughter's ruby colored eyes.

"Iri, I'll be taking care of Caster from now on. Don't concern yourself with her anymore, just make sure Illya is fine."

The homunculus nodded weakly, and sniffled as she gazed into her husband's firm dark orbs.

* * *

"Master, if you may let me speak, I would like to point out that your plan with Kotomine is quite lacking, to say the least." The barbed enunciation of the word "master" did not escape Tokiomi, and he could feel one of his dark eyebrows twitch in irritation, though otherwise his face was blank.

"I did not ask for your opinion Archer." The blue eyed magus deadpanned nonchalantly, and continued on his way towards his workshop to check on any new intelligence.

"And I gave it anyway, out of the kindness of my heart." The silver eyed spirit goaded the dark haired man, complete with a mock bow of respect. The Tohsaka head knew his Servant was testing his patience, and he wasn't going to let him have any satisfaction.

"Hn, how would you improve it then?" Implored the magus thoughtfully, ignoring the bait.

"Personally, I would abandon it altogether." Shrugged the tall muscular man in a laidback tone, one eye closed as he watched his Master, his red clothed arms crossed over a broad chest.

"If you think I'm in the mood for jokes Archer, you are sorely mistaken. You seem not to remember that the test of your abilities the other day left a lot to be desired." Retorted Tokiomi in a controlled voice, but that eyebrow twitch was back much to the Servant's entertainment.

"That is of course just a temporary side effect from a faulty summoning, Master." Jibed the silver haired man good-naturedly, a blatant smirk on his tanned face.

Tokiomi's back went rigid for a moment, his hands clamped into fists, but he eventually relaxed, then promptly turned around and resumed his earlier activity of trying to reach the basement room as if nothing has happened. He heard a poorly stifled chuckle, but he didn't bother looking back.

"Very well, then let me suggest this:" Came the deep voice of the owner of the wildly standing silver hair as he followed the mage in the red suit, matching his pace with ease. "There would be a lot less suspicion if Kotomine's death was faked as well as his Servant's. We would have to put up a good show too to satisfy those watching though."

"Hm, you have some interesting ideas Archer, you might be of some use after all." Mused the owner of the red suit jacket, his steps only a tad slower.

"I wouldn't want to disappoint my Master." Declared the sardonic warrior behind him.

Tokiomi kept himself from sighing in exasperation.

"Father, Father!" This time his daughter's voice reverberated in the hallway, and interrupted him. He briefly wondered if he was going to get any work done today. Nonetheless, he turned to face the girl. "I have finished my homework, can I have a cookie now?"

"Rin... you need to have restraint. We are busy right now." The black haired mage tried to mollify the little girl, but he had a feeling it would not be an easy task as he recognised the voracious sparkle in the child's blue eyes.

"But just one? I really did my homework splendidly like a Tohsaka future heir should!" The blue eyed girl attempted to negotiate, not backing down.

"Archer, give her one of them." Ordered Tokiomi, deciding that it was less trouble letting her daughter have her way in this case than trying to placate her.

"I'm afraid that we are out of the cookies, Master." Sounded the calm baritone of the tanned spirit. "You will need to remember them the next time you restock our supplies."

The last part the steel eyed man added for good measure, in a sardonic voice that passed over the young girl's head who surely would have reprimanded him for being disrespectful if she realized. Still, he was successful at grating on the nerves on the Tohsaka head, though the man would not let it show.

"You mean, when you restock the supplies. After all, wouldn't that be included in a good Servant's task of duties." Tokiomi pointed out with a shrewd smile emerging on his face as if he could read the tanned man's unsaid dissent about how such things would be below a spirit servant.

"Buy it now Archer! I want the cookies now!" Rin decided to try her luck with the silver haired spirit before he could reply to the Tohsaka head, and her father had no intention of telling her off for bothering the warrior. Instead he settled on languidly crossing his arms over his chest to observe. This was payback.

"I still don't take orders from you, pipsqueak." Archer barked back, seemingly unaffected by the high-pitched whining, but he was unable to completely conceal a grimace.

"Stupid, pig-headed Archer!" Rin stomped with her tiny foot, her shrill voice not far away from a full blown tantrum. If you looked close enough, you could even see the first glimmer of tears in her sapphire coloured eyes. "You are totally useless! You should go away and never come back! Stupid!"

To Tokiomi's outmost curiosity, there was a grim look in the Servant's eyes at his daughter's words. He wondered how exactly she managed to affect the tall man so easily.

"Rin-chan, why are those cookies even that important? Is it worth being so upset about it?" The tanned warrior asked seriously, dropping his previous teasing attitude.

The girl blinked, her lips quivered, but she bit down on it, and she cast her gaze stubbornly on the floor. Yet, there was an air of sadness about her that wasn't to do with childish sulking.

"Mother always gives me a cookie when I do my work well." Came a small, murky whisper after a while. Tokiomi was taken aback, was his guarded daughter opening up at so little prodding. He was also finally piecing together that what he dismissed as just another fit from the girl was actually that she was missing her mother. "I did my homework today too, even though I had to do it alone, but no one gives me a cookie now…"

"Rin," The Tohsaka decided to finally address his daughter after her revelation of her feelings. "You have to understand that your Mother is away for her own safety. You should just focus on your own work to make her proud. There is no sense in despair-ehm?!"

The speech of the magus in the red suit was broken by a muscular arm stretched in front of him, silently signalling him to stop. He blinked, but his Servan't dark face was unreadable. Then it smoothed out with a kind smile, but it wasn't directed at him.

"I'll bake cookies for you without any delay, there should be nothing Rin-sama should want for." Archer stated with no hint of sarcasm as he swooped the child up effortlessly with one muscular arm. Rin was too surprised to protest, her face lit up by a rosy blush.

"So tell me, what kind of cookies does Rin-sama require?" The silver haired man queried as he gracefully balanced the girl on one shoulder, while walking in the direction of the kitchen.

"Oooooh!" Rin was all smiles now, her enthusiasm back with a full force, and the whole scene somehow made Tokiomi's heart ache with a dull pain, but he squashed the feeling quickly. "I want really big ones with white and dark chocolate and raisins, and also hazelnuts, and orange and… and…"

"I agreed to cookies, not culinary monstrosities." Reprimanded the tall man lightly. "You will have to decide on ingredients that actually work."

The Tohsaka mage who was left alone listened a while longer to the fading voices of his daughter and spirit servant. The figurative cogs of his brain turned and churned as he carefully pondered over something. It might be a reckless plan, but looking at the compatibility of the two, it did seem like an idea worth undertaking. He was not called cunning for nothing.

* * *

**A/N:**

Phew, things just kinda got out of hand there… I mean word count-wise. I was planning to have the next scene in this chapter too, but then the wordcount just kept increasing and increasing, and I thought it was best to stop now. Also gives more of a cliffie *is evil, but it is a known fact*, plus this gives a nice rounded POV for each of the four main characters of the story (except how Kiritsugu hogged most of it… the bastard…)

So in any case what I have to say is: Caster really has no finesse with kids, poor Illya. Archer on the other hand seems to be so good Tokiomi must be considering him hiring him as a permanent nanny. Also, fluff was promised, fluff was delivered. Character development (i.e.: psychological torture) happened. Yep, Caster is the kind of person who is just not going to take Kiritsugu's shit, and that man really needed a kick in the face. But don't worry, he will be all better (no, he won't be "cured" of his idiocy yet, but it is the beginning down a long long road).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hoped I haven't broken the Nasuverse too much still. *eagerly awaits what people have to say

Ah yeah, be warned, next update won't be so fast because Christmas is neigh upon us, and I will be busy with parties and things, but I will try my best for my lovely readers! Also next chapter will finally have some actions scenes… we will see how writing action scenes go for me… (wish me luck please!)

Thank you very much for reading! Your interest makes me impossibly happy!

Please excuse any spelling mistakes, I still lack a beta, and it's late here, and I'm too excited to wait with uploading until I had a proper read for errors. I will update it later if I find any. Also the mistake about Illya in chapter 1, thanks for pointing that out!


	3. Chapter 3: Preparing

**A/N:**

Hi everyone… so I guess this is where I say "Merry Christmas, this is your surprise Christmas present for being so lovely." Yep, I know I said I would be too busy before Christmas, but I was just really moved by your response, and wanted to give you more of the story (plus had some extra time when on the plane flying home, and then on the train.

Thank you very much all of you for reading, following, faving and reviewing my story, I'm really honored, and I find that reviews help me plot and think about what to address in future chapters. So then some replies to things brought up by reviewers:

I'm sorry if I come off as disrespectful towards Kiritsugu. I actually quite like his character, would not be writing about him as one of the main characters if I didn't find it interesting. Though, I'm afraid I may also like abusing him emotionally, but I'm a great fan of character development… In any case, I appreciate a lot of his problems (I have a case of shutting people out to not get hurt irl too), and I will try my best to give his character justice.

There is one thing that I can also promise: Caster and Kiritsugu will be working together more closely in the future (it already starts in this chapter, though they are still along their bumpy start). And yes, we all know what that means for the future. Wink wink, you will actually get a backstory for Caster. Eventually.

I know a lot of people are looking forward to Caster's and Archer's meeting (me included), but because of plot reasons, that is still some ways off. Anyway, I swear to make it all the more magnificent when it comes to it. (Let's hope I won't get too distracted with writing all the angst/fluff in the world, and the other cool characters of course… I have a bad habit of getting carried away writing angst, cough seethischaptertoo cough cough).

Similar thing about the Matous, the story WILL get there eventually. They will definitely be addressed (and I can't wait to write it, because I have such evil plans).

Okay, before I start, I should note that this chapter involves some **spoilers** about the grail from the **Heaven's Feel route**. Actually, I probably should have also said it earlier that the story in general will have HF spoilers. There are of course going to be plenty of Fate and UBW spoilers too, but those have their animes/movies whatever, so I doubt they are that much of a problem.

Now, onwards with the story!

* * *

**Chapter 3 -** Preparing

Archer fumed silently on the inside. He was conscious of the chill of the night, but it wasn't bringing any discomfort for his spirit vessel body, not that he would have cared for trivial matters like the cold of the night. At the moment his mind was too occupied by fantasies of inflicting pain on the deplorable man he kept calling Master.

As satisfying as it was to visualize him wiping the arrogant smirk off of the Tohsaka's face, regrettably he could not continue relieving himself of his pent up anger. To be exact, it was because of the intervention of something that was about 4 feet and extraordinarily annoying.

"Archer, this is boring! How long till he gets here? It's cold, you know!" He recognized the irritated whine of the little girl that sounded right next to his already sore left ear.

"Quiet, squirt." He barked at the girl unsympathetically. "We are lying in wait. What part of the concept of remaining hidden you are not getting?"

"Hey, you have to call me Rin-sama!" The girl puffed out her cheeks in displeasure as she took to scolding the tall man. "It's your potty-mouth that will give us away, Archer. You need to show proper respect towards your Master, or else we can't convince anyone."

The white haired man rolled his eyes, and resisted the urge to point out that he wasn't at all that polite towards his real Master either. He knew it was a lost cause to make his pocket-sized charge let him get away with any acts of impudence, and as much fun as he had teasing the girl, he needed full concentration if he wanted to keep the tiny magus alive. Despite how he detested her father for his idea to involve a child (his daughter at that) in the War, he had to admit that the move as it was executed made tactical sense. In the end, at least he was grateful for the opportunity to keep an eye on the girl secured onto his back with the help of intricate magic.

When the plan was initially proposed by Tokiomi, that his daughter should accompany the tall Servant and act as his Master, Archer was convinced the red suit wearing magus has officially gone bonkers. In reality though once the dark haired man outlined the strategy in full detail, the silver-eyed spirit could not stop his calculating side soundlessly applaud the magus in his head.

The added weight and size of the child was sufficiently small to not hinder him in a fight, and the close proximity to his body meant that she would be fully under the protection of Rho Aias when called upon. The small body of the girl could be firmly bound by magic against his broad back with the head poking out over his left shoulder. Apart from her head, only the arms were left to move freely, creating the possibility for battle support with the use of Mystic Codes in the form of brilliantly shining jewels prepared by Tokiomi. The tanned spirit found the feeling of his little charge not that different from wearing an almost empty backpack. Although this luggage tended to hit him over the head with a tiny fist if he likened her to a sack (of potatoes).

Ultimately, the part that managed to earn conclusive consent from the white-haired warrior was the jewel-based magical armor that the Tohsaka head managed to fish out from his inheritance. The piece was more or less in tatters, but the salvageable bits were just about enough to equip the undersized proportions of the future head of the family. Using Tokiomi's theoretical brilliance and his Reinforcing and Projection magic, they were able to patch the protective layer into a powerful cover that would be active even if he had no time to project his shield.

All in all, the setup complimented his fighting style perfectly: he would get severely underestimated for having the comical way of carrying around a seven-year-old for a "Mater", and he could make sure to take out anyone who would foolishly lower their guard, with special consideration for anyone who thought the girl he was carrying was easy prey. Of course, the best part was that his real Master, who he could confer with through their telepathic link, would be ready to take action as the genuine backup in the most decisive moment.

The Servant wasn't stupid though, he knew very well that the Tohsaka head was also using his daughter to enforce his loyalty and try to manipulative him into doing his bidding. The magus wearing the red suit had correctly assessed that he was prone to bend more easily than usual when asked/ordered by Rin, a possible side effect of having been under countless of times the power of command seals enforcing his obedience to the girl (and not at all to do with any sort of fondness he most surely did not hold).

"Archeeeeer! You are not listening, you big dummy!" The tall man was quite literally pulled from his thoughts by incessant yanking on the tanned skin of his left cheek, accompanied by the loud voice of his pretend-master full of ire. "You have to pay attention, really it's super important, so don't get it wrong, or I will pinch you very hard!"

"Ofh chourseh, Rhin-samah." The silver-haired man drawled, his words slightly distorted by her left cheek still being stretched out, but not detracting from the mock respect accentuated by his defiantly crossed arms, and closed eyes.

"Good." Nodded the child, if noticing, not commenting on the satirical undertones as she let the abused tanned cheek relax back to its natural position. "Now as I was saying…"

Archer had half a mind to just zone out again, but his sharp eyes picked up movement, and in an instant his large hand was covering the bubbly little noise-hole on the face of the girl on his back.

"He's here. Get ready." He whispered almost soundlessly, yet he was sure he was heard by the child, as he could feel her body tense and slightly tremble with anticipation and anxiety mixed together. After a moment of consideration, he decided to add: "Don't worry, it will go fine. I'll definitely keep you safe."

At those words, the spirit Servant registered with a slight smirk that he could not detect even the smallest shiver from the child secured on his back, and before he knew it, he was hearing the incantation for activating a Mystic Code. He watched with fascination as delicately crafted magical patterns lit up on the Tohsaka grounds under the feet of a tall man dressed in dark priestly garb. The edges of the bounded field lit up brilliantly as the dark haired man trapped in their confines froze in place.

"Hahaha, you have walked straight into our masterful trap, stupid Kirei!" Laughed the small girl triumphantly after Archer gracefully landed on the outside of the magical field buzzing with energy. "So careless of you to actually believe my father would just invite you for negotiations for old times' sake, when you are now our enemy."

"Pardon me for thinking the prideful Tohsaka family would play fair. That mistake won't happen again." Replied the dark-eyed priest in a calm voice, seemingly completely unconcerned by the predicament he was currently in.

"I won't allow you to badmouth my family." Hissed the blue-eyed child, tone icy. "Archer, finish this poop-head!"

"With pleasure." The tall spirit supplied, masterfully holding back his laughter at the childish name-calling. A moment later Kanshou materialized in his hand, and he was swinging it towards the frozen priest. The sword never reached its target though, as the red and black-clad body of the spirit twisted in the middle of the motion on pure instinct as his senses picked up on the smallest bit of movement behind him. Bakuya was conjured in his other hand just in time to divert the blade of the dagger aimed directly at the junction between his neck and head. The force of the clash resulted in both spirit Servants skidding in opposite directions, cracking the earth beneath them. The terrified squeak coming from near his left ear did not escape Archer's attention either.

"So nice of you to show up, Assassin." The silver haired spirit made light conversation in his usual acerbic style. "I was wondering when you would deign it fit to appear. It would have been immensely boring if I took out your bastard of a Master without a proper fight."

"Careful with what you wish for, Archer. Are you sure you can protect that vulnerable little thing on your back?" The black skinned man carelessly gestured at Rin, a predatory smile on his grotesque face. The tanned spirit could feel the shiver of the girl's body against his back. "Look, she doesn't have much confidence in your abilities."

The steel colored eyes of the spirit glanced at the child, belying his concern for her. Her face was unreadable, eyes downcast and shadowed. He started to doubt if it was a good idea to let her participate…

"I'm just trembling because I'm angry that a stupid minion like you would think my Archer was that weak!" The girl stated, voice unwavering, confidence shining clear in her sapphire eyes. Despite himself, the muscular spirit looking after her felt his heart skip a beat, then pride swell in his chest. She might be seven-years-old, but she was sure as hell the Rin he knew so well.

Assassin seemed to have judged any further taunts would be ineffective, and he moved towards the pair with his lithe body now aimed at inflicting death and pain on the child on the back of his fellow spirit. Archer did not hesitate to counter the swipes, an upper-left cut, a mid-height feint that turned to a precise stab, a lower-right swing that carried to up to the top-left again, and so on. He met each attack with impeccable movements, his muscular body bending perfectly to his will.

The dark-skinned spirit had impressive speed and agility, in addition to a body that could twist and twirl in ways unimaginable for a normal human being, not to mention the intricate swordplay tricks he cunningly weaved into his attacks. However, the taller spirit could read through his moves, match his speed, and boasted superior strength. Assassin lacked the element of surprise now, and it was not working in his favor.

Archer was grinning, enjoying the thrill of the battle, even if so far they have only exchanged half-hearted blows. He thought it was about time to be getting serious when the unexpected blow knocked into his right side. He took advantage of the momentum to slide farther away, while both countering Assassin, assessing the damage, and gauging the new threat.

"Archer! Are you okay?!" Shrieked a concerned Rin, but really it wasn't so bad: he had a cracked rib or two, but most of the price was paid by his body armor. Although, another hit in the same area by the inhumanly strong priest who joined the battle could be concerning.

"You couldn't have possibly thought that a bounded field, prepared in advance or not, but activated by a novice like yourself could keep me down for that long." Came the cold words from Kotomine, as he relaxed back to his basic fighting stance. "You missed your chance earlier, so it would appear the tables have turned now. You are outnumbered, and forced to fight in close quarters when you are suited to long-range. It might be time to give up."

"I will pass, but thanks for the warning." Archer threw at the priest haughtily, slightly still glaring at the emotionless analysis of the situation by the darkly clothed man. As Kotomine and his Servant both started at him, he pushed himself off the ground, and was up on the edge of the roof of the Tohsaka mansion in a single leap. His feet almost did not touch the ledge yet when he sent a barrage of crimson arrows at his foes behind him, body only fully turning to face them once the last arrow left his bow that was summoned mid-leap.

"Trying to put distance between us?" Growled the dark haired man in the priestly clothes, parts of those dark clothes pinned to the ground by the arrows fired a moment ago, but otherwise he was unharmed, unlike his spirit Servant, who managed to avoid each and every one of the projectiles. "That won't be nearly enough. Assassin!"

Kotomine ripped the prohibitive arrows from his outfit, as his Servant vanished from sight at his command. The priest himself readied his body, his eyes constantly on his prey as the reinforced muscles in his legs flexed, and he kicked off, advancing at his target at a breakneck speed, but choosing to go in a complex zig-zag pattern to make himself a difficult shooting target. On the other side of the archer Servant Assassin was advancing in the shadows in a similar manner. The two dark blurs moved in unison, converging on the same spot, both striking at the same time, not allowing an escape route for their victim.

"Yeah, that won't be enough. But this will be." The words muttered could not be heard by his enemies, yet the silver haired spirit still uttered them, for the sake of it, as he strung his bow to its very limit. "Caladbolg."

Kotomine's foot and Assasin's dagger both landed successfully on their target, and the sound of shattering glass could be heard. There was only a split second for them to comprehend that they have simply just destroyed a magical mirror that was placed there beforehand, and then everything around, including them exploded in a blinding flash of energy as Archer's Caladbolg impacted. When the light that lit up the whole area died down, there was nothing more on the blackened ground next to the Tohsaka villa than two charred corpses blown to several pieces.

"Yaaay! We won! We totally won! You are the best, Archer!" Cried an euphoric Rin, attached to the back of the tall man as he carefully descended back towards the Tohsaka home, careful to not go near any of the bodies, lest the little girl might see them. While he could see everything crystal clear even from far away, he would rather not have the child experience more than necessary. "Uuuuh, can we have celebratory cookies? There is still some left, right?"

"Of course, and I think there might also be some celebratory hot chocolate in order for Rin-sama." Archer offered kindly, smiling at the excitement displayed by the girl.

"Wooohoo, hot chocolate!"

* * *

"As morbid as it sounds, I have to say that I found it quite impressive." Kotomine Kirei, the real one this time mumbled in his ever present monotone, dark eyes still trained on the magical surveillance device Tokiomi has prepared to observe the fight they have arranged.

"Hm, my daughter is indeed rather talented." Conceded his companion, a magus wearing a crimson suit, as he switched off the gadget he was supplying prana to until now. There was a mild hum of energy as the light fizzed out. "Also, even if that archer Servant is not the one we were trying to summon, we can fit him into our plans quite well. I admit that I was rather skeptical about him in the beginning, but he has proven to be satisfactorily shrewd himself. His unexpected loyalty to my Rin is a great additional bonus."

"However, I seem to recall sensing unmistakable bloodlust directed at you Tokiomi, when you suggested that Rin fills in as an acting Master." Pointed out the tall man in the priestly garb, his tone bland, but his eyes gleaming with amusement for a moment as he caught the uncomfortable tensing in of the blue-eyed mage sitting elegantly at his desk.

"Maybe." The Tohsaka head supplied after he fully composed himself, idly swirling expensive blood-red wine in the finest cut crystal glass that money could buy. "Yet Archer is a very reasonable man. He might have his impulses, but he listens before deciding to act. As long as I explain the details to him, he is easy to deal with. He is also keen to add his on insight, and I cannot deny that he is very cunning. He has a very fitting personality for my purposes."

The dark-haired priest remained silent, not having much in mind to refute Tokiomi's claims. If you looked at it objectively, apart from his sarcastic remarks, Archer suited the role of being the Tohsaka's servant perfectly, down to the elegant flourish the family prided itself on, complete with wearing the signature crimson and black colors. The dark eyes of the man watched absent-mindedly the deliberate sip that the blue eyed man took of his luxurious drink, followed by a contended sigh.

"Now then Kirei-kun, can you please tell me how many have witnessed our little play?" Tokiomi inquired serenely, though an expectant shine present in his sapphire eyes.

"I have detected the presence of exactly four familiars." The voice came from a dark corner, the shadows of the night swirling together to form into the body of a female version of Assassin, the distinct skull mask reflecting the moonlight ominously confirming her identity without a doubt.

"Only one missing, not a bad result." Nodded in contemplation the magus in the red suit, peacefully continuing to savor his refined refreshment. "Risei has confirmed the summoning of the last Servant of the war, Saber, and as the Second Owner through my familiars I have detected their arrival in Fuyuki. As expected, with the lack of suitable individuals, it must have been someone incompetent to summon the Servant."

"It may be too hasty to jump to conclusions." Interjected the priest in the room, matter-of-factly. "In any case, it would be wise to concentrate on finding out the identity and abilities of all the Servants, and the remaining Masters."

"You are correct, Kirei-kun." Admitted the blue-eyed magus good-naturedly. "With the use of your command seal to make one of the Assassins take on your form, there is no question that we would have been able to convince even experts in magical deception like the Caster class that it was you that perished. Now that all the Masters have written you and your Servant off, it is exactly the right time for you to spy on them, and find out all their secrets. With that information then I can devise our winning strategy."

Kirei bowed his head in silent respect towards his scheming former teacher. He waited politely as Tokiomi finished the contents of his glass.

"Go, and watch each of the Masters and their Servants properly, Kirei-kun." The blue-eyed magus ordered firmly while delicately setting his finely crafted glass on the surface of his polished table. "Make sure that you stay hidden, only interfere if absolutely necessary. I'm sure Assassin will have no trouble concealing you along with itself. Don't forget to report your findings in detail. I expect you to be diligent."

"Of course, I won't disappoint you." Replied the dark haired priest, his hand on his chest as he bent his back in perfect submission.

As the tall man in the priestly garb left his room, the Tohsaka head found himself staring outside his elegant, wide windows into the starry night. With the abstaining former student he had, he really wished there was someone else he could share his appreciation of finery with. Oh well, if things kept progressing exactly as they have planned, like it had until now, he just had to wait a couple years for his daughter to grow into someone under his tutelage who would not just grasp his magic, but also how luxury should be enjoyed in style.

The train of his thoughts came to a halt though, when he noticed from the corner of his eyes the arrival of a muscular, white haired man in the courtyard. What really bothered him though was the unrestrained delight that he could see on the face of the little girl giggling without a care in the world while attached to the back of the spirit. The small smile gracing a tanned face did not escape his detection either.

Tokiomi stood up abruptly, lacking some of his usual grace, and left the room without another look outside.

* * *

"All of your equipment has arrived." The dry statement followed the tenacious click of the last lock of the old door of the outdated hotel room, the owner of the voice turning to regard the other occupant, a man dressed in all black, in a similar fashion to her dark color coordinated attire. "Madame should be arriving at the airport in a couple hours. I will pick her up and escort her to a safe location. In the meantime, you can set up the territory at the castle with Caster."

"Got it." Answered the dark haired man curtly, not looking at the woman who carried herself across the narrow passage in the room with steady steps.

"Last night, a fight took place at the Tohsaka mansion. Though incomplete, I have a recorded footage." The dark eyes of the woman focused on a button located on a video player as she proceeded to kneel down, and push it.

Kiritsugu watched the film play, deep in thought. Unmistakably it documented the death of the contestant he was most worried about, Kotomine Kirei, along with his Servant, Assassin.

"How would you interpret it?" He queried somberly, eyes not leaving the screen.

"I would like to say that it is too good to be true." The woman dressed in black supplied impassively. "However, my familiars in the area have confirmed that the prana signatures of the deceased did correspond to that of a Master and a Servant. While I see it highly unlikely that a young child could have not only summoned a full-fledged Servant, but also prepared such a complexly set up ambush herself, for whatever reason it does look like that the Tohsakas have decided to take out Kotomine when his guard was still lowered. A smart move, and one that works in our favor, if true."

The man in the black clothes closed his eyes in silent approval, his hand thought still left in front of his mouth that was set in a straight line.

"And your opinion, Caster?" At Kiritsugu's pointed question, a feminine giggle was heard, and a magical breeze swept the room as a woman with silver hair came into physical existence. The man acknowledged the spirit with a slight inclination of his head, all the while happy to see his dark haired companion not give any reaction other than carefully observing the lavishly decorated form of the "newcomer".

"I'm sure Black Widow-chan over there did her best to get this data, but I'm afraid the quality of her technology is simply lacking." The woman in full magical radiance gestured at the dark haired companion of Kiritsugu while speaking, and he noticed Maiya's eyes narrow at the rude nickname, but Caster wasn't in her full teasing mode.

The man's sharp senses picked up on the hint of an unusual strain in her melodious voice, and he was sure that her eyes normally shining with just magic held a deeper emotion than he had ever seen on her often façade covered face. Most importantly though, he caught her metallic eyes ever so often stray unconsciously towards the screen, before she purposefully looked else. Kiritsugu didn't think he would see his Servant nervous about anything, and the reaction further fuelled his suspicions.

"Looking at the information presented before me, there isn't much else I can conclude than what you already have." Casters voice was kept deceptively light and firm, if he didn't spot those small signs, he wouldn't have known she was affected at all. "If I had some of my own familiars in the area, it might have been a different story."

"Ensure that you have some ready to watch the mansion in the future." The owner of the messy black hair quickly continued before the woman dressed in white could complain about being bossed around. "What concerns me is why the Tohsakas would put their Servant out in the open like that. Keeping the identity of your Servant hidden is key in this war, why take a risk like that?"

"Perhaps he couldn't trust Kotomine, and considered his betrayal a threat enough to warrant such countermeasures." Noted the dark eyed woman standing closer to him now.

"Or he is just confident that none would be able to guess his identity from seeing him fight." His spirit Servant cut in with a sly smirk.

"He might be an obscure hero, but he has exposed his Noble Phantasm already, with some time we will surely identify him." The former mercenary concluded rationally. "Not to mention, this way we already know the extent of his abilities, and can think of how to counter it."

"I would find that all the more reason to expect him to have other tricks up his sleeve." The dark haired woman in the hotel room spoke up this time. "He probably have deliberately revealed the technique to make you think that it is the limit of his capabilities."

"Ahahahaha! The both of you are so cute, I can't hold myself back." Maiya and Kiritsugu frowned in unison at the openly laughing third person, who was now wiping fake tears from her eyes.

"That," An elegant finger pointed at the screen that froze at a single picture at the spirit's command, displaying the appearance of an impressive sword. "Is the Demonic Sword, Caladbolg. Its owner is Fergus mac Róich, but that Servant in your recording does not look remotely Celtic. In addition, Caladbolg should simply be a sword of light, similar to a rainbow, and not be coiled up to then twist space into smithereens, like shown here."

"So you are saying that technique wasn't that Servant's true Noble Phantasm? It is a hero then, who can use others' Noble Phantasm and twist it to his purposes?" The darkly dressed man summarized once his brain processed the load of information carelessly thrown at him by the woman.

"Are you not just soooo lucky to have such a delightfully nice person as me spell it out all to you?" Cooed the silver haired woman with a false smile that almost reached her ears. Utilizing some hard earned self-restraint Kiritsugu could somehow keep himself from recoiling in disgust at the exaggerated sweetness. "Really, you need to appreciate me more, you are useless without me."

The dark eyed man grated his teeth quietly as he watched Caster who has seemingly lost interest in them and the screen display turn around, the many folds on her dress twirling elegantly, as she took to examining the weapons neatly laid out on the bed.

"Are you sure any of this primitive equipment is going to be of more use than junk?" The woman asked in a scathing tone as her metallic eyes scanned the gear with barely concealed contempt. Kiritsugu had to admit that the woman was not only an expert in paying no heed to the murderous looks directed at her from Maiya, but she knew exactly how to scrape on his and her loyal companion's nerves. "It almost makes me ashamed of myself for associating with a wielder of barbaric technology like these. You should leave these here, they would be just dead weight."

The dark haired woman who had his complete trust was about to explode with some hostile comeback, so the man had to interfere quickly. He decided this was as good a time as any to test out his theory.

"Was then technology that far advanced where you come from, Caster?" Kiritsugu took silent pleasure at the way the woman's expression froze in surprise. It was gone in a fraction of a second, her metallic eyes shining with ire.

"You think I would care for something like that, with my abilities?" The white haired woman asked with a dangerously calm voice.

"I wonder Caster," The man continued, seemingly completely disregarding the threatening air. "Would I be able to tell who you are if I saw **your **Noble Phantasm?"

"Of course not." Hissed the woman as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, her eyes never leaving the man's dark ones that were meeting hers with clear opposition. "You wouldn't be able to comprehend it."

"Would that be because you are a hero from the future?" Kiritsugu whispered the question, and if the room wasn't so silent, it would have been easy to miss.

"Ohohoho, if I may ask, what would give you such a silly impression, Kiritsugu-san?" Caster might have been a master of putting on masks and careful in not giving away information, but the former mercenary marveled at how hopeless she was at lying when put on the spot by something she wasn't prepared for. Not that the fact would make him reconsider being merciless in pointing out the details.

"For once, you simply don't fit the description of any recorded hero." The dark haired man started to list off impassively. "You have clearly known Zelrecth, and use jewel-based magic just like the Tohsakas, but apart from Tohsaka Nagato, none of the bloodline was associated with the user of the Second Magic, nor would have any of them become a heroic spirit."

Kiritsugu could see the expression of the silver haired woman grew grimmer with every word he said. He pushed forward relentlessly.

"You seem to be familiar with not only the main participants of the Holy Grail War, but also with the significance of their sequence, which I would find hard to believe you would consider important if you only found out about the existence of the wars past your ascension as a hero. Since the start of the Holy Wars, there have definitely not yet been anyone who could have become a spirit like you. The only explanation that remotely makes some sort of sense is that you are from the future. Considering you were a student of Zelrecth, I think you are most likely from an alternate reality like that magic of his could invoke."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised to be found out so early on by a cunning fox like you, Kiritsugu." There was an obviously forced smile on the face of the woman dressed in pristine whites, as she grudgingly admitted defeat. "Very good assessment there, no use in me trying to deny it. I myself thought it was very fitting that I would be summoned into an alternate world thanks to the Old Man, Zelrecth."

"However, make no mistake Kiritsugu." She stopped playing around, and had an entirely serious face now. "Even if you are right, I will not be divulging you my name. I have died so far in the future that your bones would have definitely been turned to dust by then. I know only trivial information of this war, most of which would be no help at all, as not only this is a different reality, but my presence have surely already changed matters. At least you have the luxury that none would recognize me."

"You should let me decide what facts are useless, and what is not. I'm positive there are many things known in the future that could help our situation as well." Kiritsugu replied defiantly, her coal black eyes showing that he was not going to back down.

"Ah, it wouldn't be very fair for the others if I spoiled you about all sorts of things. It is best if you do not know." Caster was back to the faux sweetness now, the act not really hiding that her irritation at being defied was building. Her left eyebrow was twitching without the hint of a doubt.

"This is a war. It is not about playing fair." The former mercenary declared icily. The white haired woman's smile just grew wider, and wider, her eyes closed as she bubbled with bloodlust. Kiritsugu though was someone who could stand up to her. If you have tried, you could have cut the tension in the room with a blunt plastic knife.

"I should go and get the Madame." The well-timed monotone of Maiya dissipated most of the open hostility. The dark haired woman satisfied with her work turned off the display screen, and went about exiting the room.

"Caster…" The dark eyed man implored carefully once his former companion left, and he was left alone with his Servant.

"Oh, what would it be my Kiritsugu-san?" The woman replied in a sing-song voice that almost made the man roll his eyes. He held back for the sake of the person he was concerned about.

"I know it might be a long shot, but having seen your abilities, and knowing that there might be advances in the future…" His voice faltered, undeniably a rare occurrence for him to hesitate, and that certainly got the metallic eyed spirit's attention. "I was just wondering if there was anything you could do about Iri's condition… Please?"

He knew he sounded vulnerable and weak, and he hated himself for it, but there was no getting around this. If there was one person who had a chance to keep the faltering health of his wife in check, that would Caster with her magical expertise. It was true that the homunculus could be kept alive just fine if stationary within a permanent magical circle, but that wasn't really how he would have wanted her to spend her last days. It wasn't necessary for his plans, but if he could help it, he wanted the woman he loved to have at least a semblance of peace and happiness before everything came to an end.

"I was starting to get afraid that you would never ask me, Kiritsugu." There was a genuine smile on the spirit's face, and the dark haired man had to admit that the expression was pretty on her face when not faked. "I'll go with Black Widow-chan, and meet up with you later."

"And Caster?" The man wearing the black suit and coat called after her as she was about to exit. The white haired woman looked back at him expectantly, the jewels in her hair jingling gently. "Her name is Maiya."

Caster snorted a bit un-ladylike, but her smile remained real. Behind the harsh exterior, his servant was a kind woman. However, the black eyed man could not leave one matter unaddressed.

"Also, you can't possibly expect me to let you go outside wearing something as ostentatious as that. You have more precious stones on yourself than the treasury of a small nation would hold." Deadpanned the man, then waited for the explosion.

"If I didn't know you are married to Irisviel, I would be convinced you have absolutely awful taste, Kiritsugu-san." The faux smile was more of a grimace, the woman's left eyebrow twitching uncontrollably. "As it stands, you are just an unappreciative idiot. And for your information, it was a medium sized country."

Nonetheless, she pressed a couple places on her extravagant outfit, and magical patterns lit up her dress as it started changing shape as if the fabric was alive. The countless sparkling jewels mostly looked to have vanished or turned to decorative designs, the excessive folds depressed back to more reasonable proportions, and overall the look became a lot more modest. Caster still looked like a high-class, rich lady with some dazzling jewelry, but at least she didn't look like a walking chandelier in a semi-ball gown. Her previously loose hair was up in a stylish hairdo, the jewels in it decreased in number and size, but the color just as unusual silver as before, though her metallic eyes now shone with a cold blue.

Kiritsugu was willing to accept that the spirit would at least stand out to some extent. It would have been too much effort to try to convince her otherwise.

* * *

The ride to the airport was uneventful, but enjoyable in Caster's book. She got to delight in her favorite pastime: messing with someone who was too serious for her own good. Maiya was a very good sport as well, as she found the concept of retaliation entirely inappropriate for keeping her composure, but the jewel-wearing woman could relish in all the small details of her discomfort.

In the end though the silver haired woman was happy when tinted and bullet-proof windows of their vehicles finally hid away another person, someone who she hoped would prove to be a little bit more talkative than the ice-queen driver whose communication with her was mostly finished past sending her scalding looks. Yet, an uncomfortable silence reigned the elegant leather covered interior.

Caster sighed, her currently baby blue eyes looking up in exasperation, and her slender fingers languidly drumming on her thigh hidden beneath a layer of white fabric. It wasn't like she expected Irisviel to forgive her easily, but the woman who looked so similar in colors to her she could have been mistaken for being her sister could have at least not avoided looking at, or talking to her like she was the plague. She really was hopeless at anything remotely sister-related, she noted with a painful pang.

Without missing a beat, the pale fingers of the jeweled woman started to trace complicated forms, while the rhythm of her lax drumming continued. A high level mage might have been able to feel the delicate weaves of the miniature bounded field forming, but the two women in the car had little chance to register it. Not that it was necessary, all Caster was aiming to achieve was to conceal the conversation she was about to have from the perceptive ears of the black haired woman in the front.

"So, did you enjoy flying, Irisviel?" The spirit asked casually, keeping careful attention on the expression of the woman next to her.

"Ah, it was a lot more enchanting than I could have imagined! So high above everything is so brilliantly bright, and the sky is a dazzling blue! The clouds looked like sea of marshmallows swimming beneath us, and…" Caster watched the excited woman as she enthusiastically recounted the sights a gentle smile on the spirit's regal face. Then, as the wine-red eyes shining with childlike pure elation met her own cool orbs, she could not missed how the ruby glimmer dimmed in the spheres staring at her, and a blank yet pretty face turn away from her.

The Servant looked down into her lap, idly observing how her dainty hands were clutching her skirt with a force that would have ripped a non-magic infused cloth. Back in Germany, she had used the opportunity of spending time with the homunculus not only to find information out about Kiritsugu, but to also get to know her better.

The currently blue eyed woman was well aware that a topic like flying, something the artificial woman just experienced for the first time would be a good ice-breaker. However, she wasn't quite ready to be pushed away this resolutely by the usually warm woman. The magus knew she had every right to do so, but it was still painful. She had grown to tentatively regard the homunculus as a friend, or at least someone she wanted to help.

"I understand that you can't stand to look at me after I have been so awful to you. You have every right to hate me." The jewel-wearing magus didn't dare look up, but she couldn't just sit in silence for the whole trip either. She was someone who would not let herself have regrets, and face her fears head on. "Nevertheless, there are some things I must tell you about, so I hope you will find it in you to at least listen to me."

"Oh I don't hate you at all, Caster!" The homunculus protested, her loose silver hair swishing as she shook her head with a keen sincerity as the blue eyed spirit let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I know that in your own way you have been trying to help my husband."

"It's just that Kiritsugu has told me not to talk to you since you are dangerous…" The ruby eyed female said dejectedly, her hands absentmindedly playing with the hem of her coat, before her wine-like orbs widened with realization and worry. "Ah! Maiya-san will reprimand me!"

"Iri, you don't have to worry about Black Widow over there." Gestured the silver haired magus spirit to the front of the car where the black haired woman was driving wordlessly, occasionally glancing up into her mirror to check on her passenger's, but not being able to see through Caster's illusion laden sound-proof magic. "I put up a magical field so she can't hear us. What I'm more concerned about is why you are still following that bastard's orders after the kind of senseless choice he made right in front of you."

"It is not as simple as that, Caster." The white haired homunculus exhaled in a troubled tone, raking her brain for a way to explain herself to her volatile companion. "My beloved husband… he has lost a lot of people important to him, he didn't want to hurt more, so he wanted to close off his heart to the pain, but I selfishly asked him to love me, and to love Illya, and he indulged me even if he knew it might hurt him eventually. I could never do anything but be grateful to him for the love and happiness he has given to someone like me, who didn't have the right to ask for joy like that."

"That is exactly why I must support him, no matter what choices he has to make to reach his aim." The sentimental glint in the Einzbern woman's eye was replaced by preserving passion. The spirit wondered when was the last time she has seen loyalty as pure as it was radiating from the red-eyed homunculus. "He has this great ideal, and he has suffered so much for it, for a man like him who can protect all of humanity to devote even a corner of his heart, a grain of his time to a feeble being like me, there is no way I can ever repay him."

"Gaah, the both of you are such hopeless idiots! I can't even understand why I'm willing to try to deal with you." Bemoaned the crystal blue eyed woman, her hands on her hips, but no real cutting edge behind her words. Then the spirit's whole demeanor shifted, a somber voice ringing in the closed off space of the car. "Look at me, Iri."

The woman in the white fur-lined coat glanced at her companion, and as their eyes met, she was swept away by the sincerity reflected in the orbs that reverted to a magical sheen, multiple colors shimmering across them. As the homunculus admired the depth of the eyes that she felt were boring into her very soul, she barely registered the warm hands on her slender shoulders.

"You are a truly kind and gentle person, and you deserve to be happy and to be loved without having to pay any price for it." Caster breathed softly, yet firmly, her burning eyes not leaving any room for argument. Irisviel was helpless as she felt her wine-colored start to burn with unshed tears. "The only way to recompense love given, is by giving love yourself, and yours is an ever-burning flame that is the only beacon of hope that can save Kiritsugu. Value yourself Irisviel, because you are precious to many people."

"But I will cause my husband pain in the end." The tears were now falling freely on the pale face of the Einzbern. It was difficult to form coherent sentences, she found it too easy to choke up on the thoughts that came as her voice quivered. "I cannot stay with him… The War… The Grail"

"I have been working on this for a while now." The pale hand of the spirit hovered over a cluster of patterns of the at the moment figure fitting white dress over her thigh. The decoration under her appendage lit up briefly, and as if she was just pulling out an item from a pocket within the normal folds of her dress, a vibrantly sparkling distinctly heart shaped jewel construct appeared in her hand. In reality of course she was accessing a mini-dimension woven by magic into the fabric of her dress, but Irisviel was not familiar with the details of the alternate universes theory, and she could hardly figure out how it was put into practice to create hidden storage spaces. "It is not perfect, and it might feel a bit uncomfortable, but if you use it right this prosthetic core can last you a decade or two."

"Caster, that… I can't…" The homunculus wearing the simple, but fine quality white clothes stuttered in a daze, mesmerized by the steady rhythm of the magical beat of the artificial jewel-heart in front of her. Eventually, she gathered some coherency to give a reason to her protest. "You need these jewels and the prana for the War, you cannot waste it on me. Those precious stones must be important to you too."

"I can do what I choose to with my jewels, and I want to use them for this. These stones will have a role a lot more meaningful than becoming tools of destruction. Such a fate would be wholly unbecoming of treasures like these that are most suited to be part of something beautiful." The user of True Magic stated nonchalantly, a smug smile playing on her pretty face. "As for the prana, there really is nothing to worry about. I have reserves that could keep me materialized here for at least a century, if need be. I have not taken any magical energy from your husband either. You can ask him."

Caster had swatted away the feeble excuses effortlessly, leaving the wine-eyed woman at a loss. The ruby orbs blinked to clear the tears obscuring her vision.

"Once implanted, your body will be back to full functionality within a few hours, a day at most." The Servant started to explain at length, appearing unaffected by the multitude of emotions painted across the attractive face of the woman next to her. "I will need to set up a fairly long and complex ritual, but we can get started as soon as we are at the hideout, and be finished by nightfall at worst."

"There is… no way I could ever repay you..." The red lips of the homunculus quivered before she bit on them again. It was all she could do to keep herself from sobbing, and the gentle expression that settled at her words in the multi-colored eyes of the spirit.

"Live for yourself, Iri. Just at least once. That is the single thing I ask for in return." The soft words of the jewel-user mage were a painful stab in the other woman's weakly beating heart. She held her breath as the tenderly bittersweet look on Caster's face mixed with guilt. "Or you can consider this as me making amends for what I did back in Germany. There was really no excuse for me for hurting you or Illya…"

Irisviel was ready to protest vehemently, but she was prevented from doing so by a hand put up gracefully by the spirit dressed in an elegant modern outfit. The woman who had her iridescent eyes closed sighed before opening the polychrome orbs again, and carrying on in a lighter tone.

"At any rate, I have also prepared a spell that has capabilities of concealing you from any attempts of magical detection, and I can cast an illusion to make you unrecognizable by conventional means. You will be able to go anywhere, do anything, and none of those involved in the war, or the Einzberns, or even Black Widow-chan can find you." The homunculus had trouble breathing as she listened to her companion speak, this time her heart beating wildly against her constricted chest. She knew it had nothing to do with her imperfect body. "This is your chance at freedom, at living for real."

"Caster, I can't just abandon everything!" The red-eyed woman cried desperately, not in the slightest bit ready to give up on the ideals she came to hold so dear. "We have all worked very hard to get where we are, I can't accept something like this!"

"It's up to you what you do with it, Iri. All I'm doing is giving you the option. Whether you stay, or leave, come back or never return, is something for you to decide." Conceded the spirit somberly. The next moment though her colorful eyes were ablaze with a compelling fire within them. "However, I would highly recommend that before you throw away the opportunity I have worked hard to create for you, at least give it some real consideration."

"You can be determined to give yourself for your noble cause, but a sacrifice is meaningless if you are not fully aware of what it is that you are losing." Argued sincerely Caster, her authoritative voice resounding in the space around the two woman, leaving no chance for protests from the less extravagantly dressed of the two. "You have seen barely anything of the world around you, surely exploring at least some of it in whatever time you have is better than just sitting in a closed off room until the time is right."

The homunculus was silent as she contemplated the points laid out before her uncomfortably obviously. She could not condemn Caster for her frankness, not even when she felt herself literally shrink back in her presence. The spirit seemed to have noticed though, and decided to mellow her tone to a more comfortable one for her reserved companion. She was shaking her up quite a bit already.

"You know Iri, my little device can really keep you in this world for several more decades. You can see Illya grow up, the world change, Kiritsugu grow old and cranky, or crankier than he already is. That is if he manages to not get himself killed beforehand." The last part was added in by the jewel-wearing woman to lighten the mood, but to no avail.

"But the Grail needs me to become complete." The ruby-eyed homunculus replied desolately, her wine-like orbs brimming with fresh, salty tears. "A vessel is needed. I want everyone to be saved, even if I can't be saved…"

"Do you really think that you can save everyone by sacrificing someone in the process?" Spat the Servant outraged, and Irisviel was sure that for a moment the eyes of the spirit flashed with a blazing, hot red. Caster was quick to regain control over her rage, and she lowered her voice. Nonetheless, her tone was strained with thinly veiled fury. "Don't you see how the whole concept contradicts itself? You can't just give up on yours, or anyone's life as inferior towards the idea of saving everyone. You, the person being sacrificed is part of that everyone, and as such you have already lost some of that precious everyone. Besides, why do you think something like the Grail that requires people to spill blood and bring death over competing for it be capable of bringing World Peace?"

"The Grail can grant any wish, and if Kiritsugu can reach it, he can wish for the right thing. I'm absolutely sure of it." The white haired homunculus stated unwaveringly, and her conversation partner didn't refute the second part, nor her trust in her husband.

The jewel-bearing spirit massaged her temple tiredly before deciding to go into a full-blown explanation of magical theory.

"I am a user of True Magic, I know a little bit about the topic in general. The Grail is the user of the Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, a power aimed at the materialization of the Soul." Listed Caster, her voice and the look in her polychromatic eyes darkening by the minute. "That is how it can summon Heroic Spirits, and it also follows, that whomever wins the Grail, the inner part of what lies within their hearts will be brought into this reality by the artifact. Nothing more, nothing less. Even if Kiritsugu gets it, you know him. You know the kind of choices he makes. He could never fathom a world where truly none is sacrificed."

"Are you then saying it's all hopeless? We have been working for nothing?" The frantic lilt of the clearly distraught homunculus' voice made the silver-haired Servant shift her eyes uncomfortably. She was not trying to devastate the artificially created being, who had all the feelings of a real person, but she knew she was doing the right thing by telling the truth.

"No, Iri. Peace is possible." The jewel-wearing magus replied calmly. She was starting to feel very tired as her mind decided to reminisce about a life she had left behind some time ago. Her voice had a bittersweet lull to it as she expanded her previous statement. "Although, not the way you are trying to attain it. There are no shortcuts."

"Why are you not telling all of this to my husband?" Asked the ruby-eyed woman quietly, though mostly knowing the answer already.

"Haaaah! He would not listen to me even if I did." Snorted the white haired spirit disdainfully. Yet her scowl smoothed out as she watched the warmly dressed woman next to her. "I'm talking to you because you are the kind of person who even if she disagrees, will at least consider my opinion, not just straight out dismiss it. I have no illusions about how unlikely it is that you will follow any of my advice, but it is not entirely pointless to talk to you."

"So you want me to tell Kiritsugu…"

"No Iri, I could care less about that idiot, he is pretty hopeless at this point." The multi-colored eyes of the spirit flashed with annoyance as she interrupted her companion rudely, before she could finish her sentence. There was no point in letting the homunculus think she was trying to use her influence over her husband. Tactics like that were below her, if she wanted to convince Kiritsugu of something, she would damn well do it herself. "No, I just decided to tell you all of this on a whim. Do with it as you like. I really don't care what you decide after hearing me out."

Irisviel blinked her still tear-stained eyes at the sudden coldness in the voice of the other woman. She felt like she should just give up on trying to comprehend Caster's erratically changing moods.

"However, you better not waste that artificial heart I made you." The Servant hissed with intimidation in her tone, yet a playful tilt of an almost smirk on her pale, but dazzling face. "It was pretty darned difficult to enchant some of the parts. You better appreciate it."

Another blink, then a giggle erupted from the silver haired homunculus. It was half a choke really, half a snigger, snot from crying earlier getting in the way of a proper laugh. In any other situation, the Servant would have turned away in disgust at the decidedly unpolished chortling, yet Caster's stern frown loosened. Yes, the Einzbern may not follow her guidance, but the red eyes twinkling at her with amusement, showed that she understood, and accepted her opinion. That was really all that the spirit asked for.

The user of true magic gingerly slipped the jeweled construct back into the designated pocket dimension in her dress, and laid back comfortably against her cushioned seat. Her iridescent eyes furtively kept observing the form of the woman next to her, who had produced a dainty handkerchief now to clean her face, all the while babbling about how sorry she was to be such a mess, but contently smiling all the same.

Irisviel really did remind her of her sister, mused the spirit, marveling at the irony of how her looks and outfit ended up matching the homunculus so unexpectedly. The whimsical thought fluttered away, to be replaced with more depressing notions, which was hard to avoid when she started reminiscing about her late sister.

Caster supposed, that in a way it was probably comical how someone who has amassed so much power, saved and made better so many lives, and solved the most complicated questions of humanity could have failed at something as simple as being a sister. Messing up at the most critical times was a curse she had been struggling against, with varying degrees of success.

Then again, an almost infinitely long time has passed for the spirit since those events that marred her conscience. She has become more capable, wiser and powerful beyond what she could have imagined. It was all due to hard work, and the drive to make her sister, and everyone else she held dear proud of her. With all the effort she has gone to polish her skills and knowledge in life, there was no way she would pass on a chance to do something she felt was right, and was within her ability. Not even if it made zero tactical sense, given how she was just starting to be able to work with Kiritsugu, who would undoubtedly be furious with her if she made his wife disappear from him.

No, Caster was not going to let Irisviel be forced to a fate she had no real choice about. Willingly or not. The consequences be damned.

* * *

**A/N: **

Yeah, my chapters are just becoming longer and longer. It's slightly terrifying. Also, still not quite sure about the genre, but I seem to enjoy dwelling deep in angst… and in theory there should also be a lot of action adventure… Does Action and Angst not sound like a weird combination? It is especially funny since I'm a horrible human being (shipper) who just wanted a good story with her ship, but then plot kinda got in the way, and now I think I'm much more interested in making it a good story, than just a good shipper story, which is why I can't put romance as a main genre. (As a reader I'm such a failure though, I pretty much refuse to read anything that doesn't at least have remote traces of my ship).

On another note, yay the first proper action scene of my life. I hope it wasn't completely rubbish. As for the Archer-Rin fighter combo… I swear I wasn't planning it from the start! I was just kinda thinking about what that shrewd Tokiomi could be thinking when seeing their dynamic, and then this plan came into my mind, and it made perfect sense. Also, I like the fluff and hilarity, I'm totally keeping it. (but seriously, that fluff has some actual plot points that will relate to Tokiomi, surprisingly it is NOT just fluff for the sake of it).

Also, we can all give a high-five to Kiritsugu for not only figuring out that Caster is a heroic spirit from the future, but actually having the guts to confront her about it. Of course the ever practical Kiritsugu wants more information, but Caster will not give any easily. Good luck, Kiritsugu-san!

I felt a bit lazy that I haven't really dwelled into the Caster-Iri dynamic previously, but here I'm already showing Caster being fond about her, but this story would really go on forever if I did, given how long their scene got in the end… Just take my word for it that there was much off-screen bonding between the girls back in Germany.

Ah yeah, please excuse any typos etc, I'm terrible at getting to actually proofread, and it's Christmas and I just want to get the chapter out. I will totally do proofreading at some time… Yeah… Currently though I have to cuddle and play with the family cat I haven't seen in months!

Happy Christmas again, (and probably a happy new year too, I'm on holiday, at home, really not sure about how much time I would have…).


	4. Chapter 4: Clashing

**A/N:**

I'm really sorry for the long wait. Most of the chapter was written by not long after New Year's, but then I received the terrible news of our cat dying of poisoning. She was only three years old, and really a lovely little being who brightened my life whenever I saw her. She will be sorely missed, and I urge every one of you who have pets to give them a hug now, while you still can, even if they are frustrating sometimes.

In other news, I had to also put writing on a little hold when a long planned D&amp;D group finally formed, but I was made to be DM, having the most experience with it (I have previously played D&amp;D once, but was experienced with another game, but only GMd there once, so you can imagine what level of experience the others had…). After having spent a ton of time on getting the basics of the rules memorized, and reading a really long, but good pre-made module for starting DMs, we have now finally started playing. Now that things are going fairly smoothly (characters have managed to all accept the main quest, survived their first fights and are only trolling each other every free moment they get plus some more) I have had the time again to finish this chapter. I will probably still be fairly busy with my newbie team, but it shouldn't be too bad now. They are mostly settled and have moved from questioning every single basic thing to having annoyingly stupid questions and puns.

Anyway, just ignore my babbling, and I hope you will like the story!

* * *

**Chapter 4** – Clashing

Heroic spirit EMIYA, Counter Guardian of Humanity, taker and savior of countless lives, was starting to peacefully doze off in the unexpectedly warm sunshine of the lazy winter day. It has been a long while since he was this relaxed, and frankly he was well aware that this was simply a lull before the storm. Which was exactly the reason as to why he wanted to fully relish in it, given the opportunity that has been presented to him.

Archer stretched lazily, his taut muscles sluggishly complying as he isettled into a more comfortable position. His tanned skin hungrily soaked in the rays of the sun nearing its zenith. He knew that he should in fact be dematerialized to be safe, but he figured this little act of indulgence would be an acceptable risk with the protection of the excessively strong bounded field Tokiomi has set up around the building of the primary school that the spirit was currently lounging on the roof of. Without a doubt, there could not be any magic user or Servant capable of entering the magical ward without detection.

The Counter Guardian has prided himself on his impeccable vigilance, but he supposed once in a while even he could use a break. Yet, he was careful not to succumb to the sweet invitation of the dream world, one steel colored eye at all times open slightly to focus unwaveringly on the form of a small blue-eyed girl sitting primly in a classroom across from the contentedly sprawled Servant.

The white haired man was lying far enough to make it impossible for any stray glances through the window to detect his red and black clad body cautiously placed to be obscured from prying eyes by piles of crates and constructions on top of the building. The spirit was observing the classroom only through a tiny gap between two metal containers, but thanks to the special ability of his class, he would have been more than capable of following the movements of a fly miles away when looking through the eye of a needle. In fact, there really was no good reason for him to be at such close proximity to his charge, other than how hidden between discarded boxes on top of the building's roof was the best place to get some peace and quiet while reveling in the rare good weather.

Archer was very much conscious of the fact that when Tokiomi gave him the specific task of accompanying his daughter to school to watch over her, it was mostly to get him out of his hair while the magus plotted with Kirei or Risei, or whatnot. To be honest, the spirit could care less. This arrangement suited him best anyway.

The Servant knew that it would have been difficult to get Rin out of school for an undefined period of time: the Grail War could just as easily last months as it could finish in days. It all depended on the temperament and strategies of the participants. However, no one needed to point out the obvious near zero probability of anyone making an attack on a primary school, in broad daylight nonetheless. No, Archer preferred not to argue over the futility of the assignment with his Master, he figured that he could use the time to finally ponder over his goals for this incarnation of the War. Time for contemplation was more or less a luxury with constant pestering from two highly assertive Tohsakas. Those devils had no regards for the dignity of Servants of the Holy Grail War...

Anyway, to begin with, eliminating his younger self in this time and reality had to be crossed off the list. Not mentioning the unpleasantness of murdering an innocent child, the spirit had no way of locating the boy either. He could not remember a single thing before that fateful day of fire and death, his name included.

He had a quick check over the students of the primary school that his current little pretend Master attended, but no redhead boy was included. That just left him with no clues at all, and to his best knowledge he was not involved with the Fourth Grail War, apart from its aftermath.

However, being so far back in the past did raise some interesting possibilities. Mainly, he wondered if he could prevent the onset of the Fuyuki Fire. It was difficult to gauge, because he had very little information, but luckily he at least had an inkling about the key players.

To start it off, there was Kiritsugu Emiya, his adoptive father. If it could be avoided, Archer would have liked to not kill him. Besides, he doubted Kiritsugu would have wished for the town to be engulfed in deadly flames.

The other survivors of the war were Kotomine and Gilgamesh. While the spirit was sure that either was unhinged enough to not mind the suffering of hundreds of people, he was also aware that Gilgamesh was the Archer of the war he was a part of now, and as a consequence, he was unlikely to play an important role here where his class slot has been taken by him. That is if his presence as Archer at this war has not been already enough to alter the result of the fighting.

As for Kirei, at the moment it was difficult for the Tohsaka's Servant to do anything about the priest thanks to his alliance with Tokiomi. While Archer had little qualms about betraying his Master to accomplish his ultimate goal, even if he managed the kill without interruptions from his contracted summoner, eliminating Kirei was no guarantee for stopping the fire altogether. As far as the spirit knew, someone else could have caused the same, or a hsimilar catastrophe that would have culminated in his adoption by Kiritsugu.

To sum it all up, it was better for him to bide his time until more pieces of the puzzle were in place. Not that he couldn't use the time to try to discredit Kirei in front of Tokiomi, but Archer wasn't exactly betting on that possibility working well enough either. Although, maybe one interesting option would be making sure to keep his Master alive, and let him win the Grail. Surely, the Tohsaka would not have a wish that could bring so much death upon his own city.

The man saddled with more sense of responsibility than anyone should bear alone relaxed his facial muscles that have knotted into a frown during his previous pondering. He felt a smile tugging at his lips as he spied from the corner of his dark eye a black haired girl raising her hand high into the air, her poise perfectly collected and refined, but the tip of her shoes pushing her body just a few millimeters farther up than anyone else to make her presence more obvious as she competed to be selected for a thing or another within her class.

The image of a young, more carefree Rin made some scattered information in Archer's brain come to the forefront. In some rare scenarios of the Fifth Holy War, he had learnt of Sakura's true identity as the younger Tohsaka sister. In addition, he was also aware that her soul got corrupted by pieces of the artifact from the preceding fight for the Grail.

The spirit wondered if merely stopping the cursed relic from breaking into fragments would be enough to save the lilac haired girl. Yet, the he knew even before finishing the thought that the old worm that went by the name of Matou Zouken would find ways to commit deplorable acts by other means. The only surefire way of keeping Sakura alive and well would be to get her away from the Matous. However, to accomplish that goal, more than likely the Matou patriarch himself had to be eliminated.

Archer was distinctly aware of the fact that Zouken was immensely dangerous, not to mention, incredibly difficult to get rid of completely. If he wanted to follow through with his new venture, he would need not only careful planning, but also formidable allies. This was not a plan he could succeed with on his own, and do a thorough job.

One of the main complications were of course the extremely close watch that Tokiomi kept him under. While the magus himself spent little time with the spirit, his daughter was at almost all times in his vicinity, and he would often catch a glimpse of one of the dark bodies of Assassin creeping near him. The obvious action to take would have been to convince his red coat

wearing Master that the Matou head was a threat that needed to be destroyed. Once again, this was a slippery road to take, as Zouken was not directly involved with the war to Archer's best knowledge, and the Tohsaka and Matou houses were closely allied. The Servant had no illusions that he would need to gather some very incriminating evidence to get his Master to entertain fighting Zouken.

Archer could feel his head starting to hurt from thinking too hard about what to make as his objective in this unusual situation. He had been mostly going with the flow so far, but there was not much point to his presence here if he planned to achieve nothing. The problem lied in what exactly he could actually realize, and what would be worth his limited time in this reality.

The sharp cry of the school bell signaling the break for lunch period pulled the spirit from his reverie. He knew he had to dematerialize soon thanks to the increased movement bringing higher chances of someone stumbling upon him, yet he found it difficult to will his steel colored orbs to leave the form of a girl with dark pigtails.

The Servant observed curiously as his little charge was approached by a group of girls of similar age, each holding neatly-wrapped bento boxes, only for the blue eyed girl to shake her head with embarrassment, and then trot purposefully out of the door. The man had a fond smile tugging at his lips at how Tohsaka Rin was the same no matter which universe he encountered her in.

It wasn't really ten minutes later when the door to the roof of the school banged open, and one pigtailed girl marched in, a plastic bag with her recently bought lunch gripped in one hand. She didn't hesitate to flop herself down on a nearby box, visibly oozing an air of irritation.

"Why aren't you eating with your friends, Shrimp?" The incorporeal voice asked, his owner materializing out of sight after speaking.

"Hey Archer! Don't scare me like that!" squeaked the little girl, caught off guard. Clearly, she wasn't good enough yet to sense him in spirit form. "Also, remember it's Rin-sama!"

The tall man rolled his eyes at the child's insistence, but chose to stay silent while he waited for the girl to continue.

"I can't let them see the Great Tohsaka Rin eat some measly store lunch." voiced Rin after a little while. She then returned to staring at the concrete floor with an angry frown that Archer was sure could be used to set things on fire with a little more practice in the years to come. "Mother wasn't there to prepare my bento, so I had to get this. My skills at making lunch are not exactly something to show off either." The girl's voice was quieter now, and her body looked painfully small as she drew her childishly thin legs closer to her chest.

"Hm, true enough." agreed the Servant. He grinned roguishly when he received a familiar death glare in return. "But maybe you should also try to pay a bit more attention to your surroundings. I know that you are useless in the mornings, however missing your lunch box waiting in the kitchen for you will end in a situation like this."

"Huh?" The child replied lacking her usual grace, her blue eyes shining with confusion as she turned around to stare at the tall man talking to her. In one of his large, tanned hands she spotted an elegantly wrapped box. The sapphire orbs ogling the box widened, before she bit her lips to keep herself from blurting out something unnecessary.

"Why didn't you remind me, you big dummy?!" she spluttered eventually, her face red. The fake ire of the mini-demon did little to deter the self-satisfied grin on Archer's angled features as he let the girl snatch the tastefully presented food container from him, and storm towards the exit.

"It is a pleasure to serve you, Rin-sama." said Servant. He barely stifled a chuckle, but performed a perfect imitation of a bow.

"Archer." The girl stopped in the doorway, her back towards the spirit warrior to hide her expression, but one small white hand gripping the doorframe as if her life depended on it. "Thank you." she breathed, just below a whisper, before she left.

The burly man crossed his muscled arms over his wide chest, his eyes closing as he drew in a deep breath, letting his lungs fill with fresh air. His darkened face was devoid of its usual lines of concern, the corner of his mouth curved in a pleasant upward arch. When his steel colored orbs were opened again, his sight focused on the same dark haired girl who accompanied him on the roof a little while ago.

The apprentice magus moved towards the earlier group of girls with an air of confidence, now a bento box of her own clutched tightly against her white shirt. It only took a couple apt words with some prim smiles for her to join them. It did not escape the notice of the white haired man, how the sapphire orbs belonging to his pretend Master lit up with excitement and admiration as she exposed the contents of her lunch container. In the midst of the awed squeals of appreciation at the cleverly presented culinary masterpiece he slaved in the kitchen with, Archer could easily recognize the blatant expression of pride, and the sight somehow warmed a bit of his soul numbed by the countless death and devastation it has experienced.

Even when not counting the flawlessly polished red ruby he carried to his deathbed and beyond, Tohsaka Rin always managed to be a central icon in his miserable existence of trying to erase all possible entities who could share his fate. Throughout all of it, he has also had to admit that he owed a lot to her, especially for the several counts of inexcusable acts of disloyalties he has committed.

Despite all and any of his sins though, the girl always ended up making him feel needed, never giving up on him. Maybe this time that his goals weren't so clear cut, just this instance, he might think about ways of repaying her. Not just by protecting her physically, but if he could help it, giving her what she really needed emotionally.

He mused that it would be ideal if he could get Tokiomi to show his love for his daughter like a normal parent would, but in the meantime the Servant was more than capable of proper parental care. The spirit figured that in any case the most important part was to make sure the Rin of at least this one world did not have to grow up in that lonely fashion he had knowledge of. That was a perfectly achievable goal. For anything else, like reuniting the estranged Tohsaka sisters, he would have to see what he could do.

* * *

Caster was no stranger to intense killing intent being directed at her, and she found that she had no difficulty in pointedly ignoring the quiet, but potent rage that her dark haired Master was seething with. The woman had her whitely clothed back adorned with thousands of sparkling jewels turned towards the man wearing all black. Despite the darkness of the basement of the Einzbern Mansion, the precious stones on her usual, grandiose dress gleamed vividly, in resonance with the Mystic Codes she was setting up with nimble fingers and quietly whispered incantations.

"Where is Iri, Caster?" Came the hiss from the ex-mercenary. His usually soulless dark eyes ablaze with a vicious passion. The object of his anger couldn't see the expression, but could imagine it from his tone. She supposed that it was better this way, she preferred him feeling something, even if it was resentment towards her. Hate was easier to deal with than a lack of emotions.

"You know Kiritsugu-san, I'm actually quite amazed at the resources that the Einzberns possess." noted the Servant pensively. Her multi-colored eyes scanned colorful symbols lighting up on the smooth, reflective surfaces of wide slabs under her slender fingers that traced features representing a ley line based map of Fuyuki City. "Not mentioning the impressive castle here, getting these large screens made out of high purity, polished crystal quartz must not have been easy or cheap. However they align perfectly with my magic, so give them my regards."

"Don't try to avoid the question." Burning coal black eyes followed every little move of the spirit with a hawk-like accuracy. The Magus Killer's voice was raised only slightly above his regular level of speech, but it had a lethal undertone to it that promised that the man would live up to his title. "I will not let you off Caster, not this time. I have a right to know where my wife is."

"I expect the bounded fields already in place will hold up to standard as well, once I get to examining them properly." The magic user spirit continued her train of thoughts unconcerned, as if she didn't hear a word of her furious Master. In reality, she was carefully evaluating the man's responses behind her, but of course she wasn't going to make it easy for him. Not after how he reacted to her earlier probe into his character. "Not that a few personalized tweaks won't be necessary, after all this age's technology is dreadfully lacking."

"Caster. Stop fooling around." deadpanned the ex-mercenary. He was starting to lose any semblance of patience. Or at least the woman judged it to be the case due to the slightest tremor she heard in his voice. Yet, only the next words forced her to become serious. "You want me to use a command spell on you?"

"We both know, that using one for a purpose like that would be entirely wasteful, and very much uncharacteristic of you, Kiritsugu." she replied breezily, as she turned towards the man with slow, deliberate movements. Her iridescent eyes locked with narrowed charcoal orbs, and she understood that the man across from her wasn't going to back down.

"So be it then. You leave me no other choice." The dark haired magus uttered, pitch black eyes unrelenting as he raised one arm to clutch the other. His dry lips opened to utilize an appropriate incantation, but the words were stopped in his throat when the spirit raised her hands in surrender.

"No need for you to go that far." said the woman calmly. Yet the ex-mercenary watched her suspiciously, keeping his hands in position. "Though, isn't this exactly what you wanted? Iri could not be safer, with not even me having the slightest inkling where she could be, there is no way for any of your extended number of enemies to track her down." There was a small smirk tugging at the corner of the spirit's mouth, some open mocking slipping into her tone. "Were you to lose in the fight, they could dissect your meager brain, and they would still have no clue at all."

"Losing is out of the question." declared the man with absolute conviction, a grim expression on his face. His Servant spotted that every muscle in his body was tense to the point of snapping, and his midnight dark eyes scanned her and her surroundings while calculating the best course of action. "Also, entirely beside the point here. You know very well, that Iri is not familiar with the world outside of her home place. It is greatly irresponsible to let her wonder about on her own, unsupervised."

"She is a mage Kiritsugu, a capable one. Don't discredit her." noted the woman morosely, her stance at first glance was relaxed, but she was sure her Master caught her careful positioning ready to respond to any sudden actions. "She can easily hold her own against normal threats, and there won't be magical ones that can find her."

"All the same, she could be tricked by someone or your contraption could malfunction." came the dry reply. Caster mused quietly that the man must have an inhuman pool of self-restraint, yet the smallest twitch of one tautly held hand in the direction of a certain concealed weapon alerted her to the possible true intentions of the Magus Killer. The Servant made sure to memorize the location of the elaborate gun when her Master seemed to put it away with special care after receiving it from Maiya. The spirit couldn't identify the ability of the uniquely decorated firearm from the little glimpse she had of it, but she had no doubts that it would be dangerous. Well, she figured she would be finding it out soon.

"The artificial core I made her is incredibly simple." she told the man while shrugging. The countless gems faintly jingled on her extravagant dress, before she decided to expand on her earlier statement. "It is merely an amalgamation of my prana filled jewels enchanted to emit small doses of power into her circuits at regular intervals. I'm not an alchemical expert, I can't build a homunculus from scratch, but I know that even something as crude as I have used can be sufficient if enough resources are thrown into it. Yes, connecting and calibrating the device was challenging, but once it was stable, it is not going to fail."

"You appear to forget that Iri is not aware of the full extent of what surrounds her in the outside world, or how to deal with problems that might come her way." repeated the vexed magus persistently.

"Isn't that all the better reason to let her see for herself how things are? Don't you think she should experience the real world when she still has a chance to?" exclaimed the woman heatedly. As she spoke, a flash of red passed through her iridescent eyes before they settled to an impossibly cold metallic color. Her features also shifted to reflect a menacingly icy disposition, the only contrast drawn by a malevolent smile playing on her pink lips.

"Or are you just scared of her changing her mind after seeing what she is actually giving up for some high strung ideal of yours?" The smirk on the spirit's face widened at observing the poorly masked flinch in the normally impeccable posture of the ex-mercenary. She knew she was being reckless, but there was no backing down when her words were clearly eliciting a reaction. She had to see for herself what lied under the carefully crafted layers of calm and detachment necessary for a highly efficient killer.

"You know, we can stop pretending now." breathed the white haired woman ominously, her metallic eyes keeping the man's expression under close scrutiny. "I'm aware that she is meant to be the vessel, and that is the real reason as to why you are so royally pissed that you don't know her exact location. Even though I have told you already that I left her with ways to contact us. No point in trying to play the concerned husband for my sake, when you are simply terrified that you will be abandoned by the woman you have been using to get your way."

"What the hell do you even know about us Caster?" bellowed the Magus Killer with every fiber of his being burning in an all-consuming hatred that boiled over his restraints. There was not a hint of composure in the darkly contorted lines of his unshaven face framed by a mess of black hair. "You act as if you know everything about this damned world, and you might be the greatest mage to have lived, not that I care, but the way you look down on others shows your spineless nature."

Caster recognized that she had crossed the line. Even if she had been trying to destroy the façade of calm that Kiritsugu hid his real self behind, the spirit did not imagine before experiencing it just how utterly intimidating the ex-mercenary could be when deadly serious. It has been many many years before her death that she last felt like helpless prey, yet now she found not only no retort coming from her parched throat, but cold sweat trickled down on the back of her neck as her widened eyes stared into haunting black pools.

"You are nothing but a pathetic excuse for a human being who takes pleasure in forcing her sick desires on others." Kiritsugu pushed on, pouring out all of his bottled resentment when he received no resistance from his Servant. The woman's face was devoid of the earlier jeering smirk, in fact she looked visibly ashen, which fuelled the ex-mercenary to say even more in a tone increasingly merciless. "You are truly mad if you think your self-justified meddling will make up for your own sad failures. You are worse than useless trash, certainly no better than me. You are good at nothing but hurting others."

In another situation Caster would have found the Magus Killer's ability to formulate words with the little information he had of her that stung like salt on open wounds almost beguiling. Right now though she had no luck with stopping memories of regret and self-loathing wash over her, the most recent occasion bringing back the image of hurt and fearful red eyes of two homunculi she has caused to suffer in her self-centered quest of proving a point.

The jewel-user saw that Illya's refusal to see Kiritsugu even to bid him goodbye had a profound effect on the man, no matter how he tried to hide it, but the spirit had to wonder if the lost look on her Master's face at the time was worth the pain visible on Iri's, and the loneliness on Illya's. She stood by her conviction that the magus who summoned her made a choice there that he had to bear the consequences for, but it might not have been her place to pass judgment. There were far too many things in her own past that she felt mirrored mistakes her Master had or had been making.

"_You… how can you still continue to preach that madness, after what it had done to her! Your own sister, she was killed because of the twisted magic you idolize so much." _Words that she thought she had sealed safely under the strongest locks in the deepest depths of her mind came back to haunt her. She could barely remember what the male voice that spoke them truly sounded like, but all the same she felt her heart clench with pain._ "Did she mean nothing to you? Is magic really everything to you? Are you going to abandon and destroy everything for something that will just bring pain and suffering?!"_

The sudden torrent of emotions assaulting the Servant left her defenses wide open, a fact that didn't escape Kiritsugu's attention. The next few moments were a whirl, and if not moving out of raw instinct drilled into her body through grueling years of experience, a bullet would have stuck itself between the silver eyes of Caster. As it stood, her pale cheeks only felt the noxious heat radiating from the projectile before it whizzed past millimeters from the white skin, and severing only a couple strands from her luscious, long hair.

The woman watched fascinated as the stark white threads blackened and fell down completely lifeless. Her soft lips set into a thin line as she assessed that the magical infusion within the lost filaments were gone without a trace. She wasn't sure if the ability of the bullets were to just dissolve magic, or something more sinister, but she didn't particularly want to find out.

"I will not miss a second time." said grimly the Magus Killer. He held the unique weapon he drew and shot in under seconds with firm hands, aimed with impeccable precision. The jewel-user mage has didn't need more time to figure out that the threat was not idle. If Kiritsugu sacrificed a Command Seal, he could impede her movements for an adequate period to be able to get her with a bullet, even if she eventually broke free of the seal with her magic. "This might not be enough to kill you, but I can guarantee that I will send your worthless being into a world of pain. I don't care if you abandon my side after this, I don't need the help of someone as vile as you to win this war."

Despite the undoubtedly severe threat to her well-being, Caster couldn't help but smile. This time there was no mocking in the upward turn of her lips, nor was it twisted by malignant undertones. If anything, her expression was closer to impressed as she admired the spectacular sight of an Emiya Kiritsugu abandoning his cold reason to protect something he held dear. Although she still had her reservations, and the man had certainly not earned her trust yet, a sentiment she was sure was mutual, maybe it was time for her to show some respect.

Before the standoff progressed any further, Master and Servant were both disturbed by a discreet beeping signal from the monitoring apparatus that Caster had been calibrating before events escalated. Neither of them moved an inch, but both were aware that something was happening inside the city that the Holy Grail War was taking place in. The tense silence was broken by the feminine voice of the spirit.

"A Servant is making their presence clear in one of the regions of Fuyuki." offered the information the woman impassively, as if she didn't have a deadly weapon pointed at her by her companion. "Something like this is most probably an invitation for a fight. I can turn on a live feed from a marker I placed closest to the area."

"We are not yet finished, Caster." snapped the ex-mercenary, his stance unchanged.

The woman held the poisonous glare of her Master before she decided on what to say.

"I swear on my life that no harm will come to Irisviel von Einzbern. If so much as a scratch is on her when you see her again, I will take full responsibility, and submit myself to any judgment you may pass on me." stated the user of True Magic resolutely, not even a hint of malice in her tone. This was a promise she absolutely meant to keep, and she made sure to let it show in her eyes that were back to their iridescent shine. "However, I genuinely believe that Iri is safest as she is. If she gives me any signal of distress, I can be at her side in less time than it takes you to draw that gun."

Kiritsugu regarded the spirit with calculating black orbs, but there were no signs of deceit for him to detect.

"I accept your proposition." conceded the man with a nod after a moment of consideration. He proceeded to finally lower his weapon, and slip it back to its concealed holder. Despite his now relaxed position, his gaze still held a level of hostility, the fire within the pitch black orbs not completely extinguished. "But be careful Caster, because I can assure you that your death will be slow and agonizing if anything were to happen to my wife."

The woman was silent as she turned towards her Mystic Codes, but the upward tug of her lips belied a pleasant amusement. Would she perhaps grow to hold some form of fondness towards this Master of hers?

* * *

Kiritsugu watched slender fingers slid across crystal screens before the multi-coloured eyes of his Servant that were moving quickly to follow patterns of rapidly lighting up and diming symbols. The meaning of the text was unknown to the man, and he suspected to anyone but Caster herself. One thin finger pushed a blurry display that popped up into the middle of the central magic monitor, while her other hand was busy inputting further commands. A couple precise skims of the spirit's appendage later the display window that had several pulsating marks looking like possible statistics overlain on it cleared up a bit, showing the image of a docks during nighttime. The view was swiftly rotated around, zoomed, then focused again until the outline of three figures were discernable.

"Oho, looks like our brave little hero here already has company. Lucky, would have been kind of boring otherwise." said the woman with shining multi-colored orbs, an eager grin on her face. "Sorry about the quality, I only had time to set up something as rudimentary as this."

The ex-mercenary resisted the urge to raise one dark eyebrow at the statement. To him, the interactive surveillance system most closely resembled some futuristic starship control panel from a sci-fi movie. He could not avoid cringing though when a screeching sound filled the room. A few more taps later the loud static noise lulled to a slightly distorted, but just about understandable distant echo of speech.

"You appear to be the only one courageous enough to have responded to my invitation." A smooth, male voice resounded at the same time as a darkly clad figure carrying two thin, different length weapons at one end of the screen positioned himself to face two others across from him. "That pristine valor… you are Saber, I presume?"

Even before a response was heard, Kiritsugu's brain switched to an analytical mode. Clearly, the speaker was the Servant Caster has initially detected, and as a Master, he could see that he had a decent fighting potential. More importantly, his polished, almost felinely graceful movements showed significant battle experience, and his form-fitting dark green leather armor marked him as an agility-based fighter, confirmed by the spears he carried.

In spite of the seemingly reckless way the spirit openly called for a bout, the man scrutinizing the display noted how little the warrior was giving away about his identity. He had wrapped his lances to conceal their true form, wore very generic clothing, bore no distinctive sigils, was of average height, and had no unique coloration. His skin was lightly tan, his hair dark brown and carelessly tousled. The single distinguishing feature the ex-mercenary could detect with the resolution of the recording were the double lances. However, there was no guarantee that the spirit was famous for being a dual spear-wielder, he could simply be holding two weapons to throw off his enemies about which of them was his main weapon.

While Kiritsugu had to commend the man he identified as Lancer for being a cautious, reserved person, his opponent standing on the other side was anything but discreet.

"Splendidly correct observation, for I may indeed be referred to as Saber." agreed vivaciously a bright blonde man wearing a finely detailed, pure golden armor that reflected even the smallest specks of light. Or at least the Magus Killer had to arrive at that conclusion seeing how luminous the figure looked even in the dead of night. "However you have erred with regards to the reason of my goodwill to grace you with my presence. I have come to cast my dazzling gaze upon the person who had the mettle to issue a challenge to the mighty me."

In spite of the awfully conspicuous appearance of this other Servant, the ex-mercenary had already determined that dismissing him as a threat would be an extremely unwise decision. Yes, he had an overall high levels in abilities, though seemingly not extraordinary, but what really caught the attention of the fastidiously observant man wearing was the absolute air of confidence that oozed from him as he stood calmly, arms crossed across his shining breastplate.

An utterly firm, regal disposition like the kind exhibited by the blonde spirit was a rare sight, it either accompanied someone who was so inexperienced they have never encountered true fear and didn't understand their situation, or it was the mark of a warrior who outclassed his opponent so by such an amount that they could consider a fight with them child's play. Kiritsugu was not foolish enough to think his luck would allow for the former explanation to hold true.

"You are one eccentric Knight of the Sword, Saber." came the wry comment from Lancer after he recovered from his initial shock at his enemy's unconventional behavior. "Regardless, I will not hold it against you if you fight valiantly."

"Wrong again!" snapped unforgivingly the owner of the striking suit of armor. "You should feel ashamed for not recognizing your King, mongrel. Calling me a mere knight, how preposterous."

Saber was reproaching the fellow spirit so patronizingly and vehemently that one could have thought the dark haired warrior had made an absurd statement along the lines of the grass being purple, or spring coming after the summer. The boundless condescending and pride of the dazzling Servant managed to catch the man holding the long weapons off-guard once again. It did not take him long though this time either to ready a scathing response.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but you are no king of mine, golden swordsman. I only serve one lord, my Master, and I will not betray him for anyone's sake." declared Lancer calmly, not acting the slightest bit regretful in the process.

"Petty details." snorted the spirit covered in gold while waving a hand in dismissal. "I'm king of the world, and all its dwellers ought to bow to me, or receive my wrath. You are no exception to that, mongrel. If you disappoint me, you will pay the price for it."

Kiritsugu noted how Saber's body language shifted from a distant, ceremonial conduct to a belligerent battle stance, one arm held out to his side ready to grab something that wasn't there yet. The golden swordsman's movements might not have been as gracefully fluid as his fellow Servant's who wove his lances around in an intricate pattern. Yet the ex-mercenary could see it as clearly as day and night that Saber's motions were honed to the absolute limit of efficiency and accuracy of a top predator. If the Magus killer had to compare the two spirits facing off, he would have said that Lancer was like a lithe leopard, careful but swift to strike and escape. Saber on the other hand was nothing short of a stunning tiger, the king of the jungle, whose one powerful smack could break the spine of a leopard who thread too close.

The picture was complete when a sword materialized next to the goldenly-clad warrior. It was an elaborately detailed masterpiece, the pommel round as a golden apple, and the gilded cross guard branched out into coils. The weapon was just as magnificent as the wielder, and the blade lit up with blinding licks of flames dancing across it in response to the touch of the blonde spirit. There was one thing though that bothered the magus watching the scene: the design of the weapon was unmistakably medieval European, yet the Servant who summoned it wore an armor that looked to be from a far older, and different time period. The obvious mismatch had Kiritsugu frowning, but he didn't have the time to dwell on it with the events unfolding before him.

Saber smiled wickedly as he held his sword against Lancer. The darkly-clad spirit's original expression of anticipation fell away when an astounding roar coming seemingly from the blade of his opponent's sword was heard. The footage on the screen shook, possibly indicating that the recording device was experiencing tremors of the earth, and the ex-mercenary inspected with fascination the rapidly flashing up new symbols on the surveillance crystal. It wasn't a noble phantasm, as no release words were spoken, but the dark haired mage could tell it was a powerful effect once the display steadied, and he saw how the warrior of spears had adapted a defensive posture, lances crossed in front of him, one leg firmly set in front of the other in a slight crouch to stabilize him as a remnant gale swept around him.

"You sure don't hesitate to reveal your blade, Saber." commented Lancer dryly as he straightened himself after his enemy's display of strength. He seemed unfazed, but Kiritsugu could tell that his stance was considerably tenser than before. "Albeit, it would appear you have some power to back up those bold proclamations of yours. Now I come to regret that the rules forbid us from exchanging our names when we are to fight each other to the death."

"I care not for paltry laws made up by humans of no consequence, for I am the rules myself." said the gilded swordsman with his usual arrogance. Then he proceeded to fix his opponent with an angry scowl. "Yet, the ignorance that you show despite my generously given clues about me means you have not earned the right to know my true name."

Lancer continued standing still, unaffected by the derogatory words.

"However, you may rejoice, as you are not cowering in fear before my sword, I have determined your meager self to be worthy of a grain of my time." Saber announced his goodwill with a flourish that was at contrast with his previous aggression. He ignored the pointed silence and raised eyebrow from the man in the dark armor as he continued melodramatically. "Stand tall, Servant of the Lance, for I give you permission to fight me."

The warrior of long weapons blinked several times, then frowned and narrowed his eyes. When the golden armored spirit across from him kept his benevolent expression, just calmly waiting, there was only one conclusion to reach: the swordsman was dead serious.

"I would normally think your words are poorly crafted insults aimed at goading your enemy into reckless attacks. But Saber, with you, I'm genuinely concerned that you fully mean what you say." Kiritsugu supposed that Lancer couldn't have given a more accurate summary of the flashy man's behaviour. The Magus Killer also understood the earnest look of the spearman as he flashed a challenging smile at the bright warrior standing opposite of him. "Don't worry, I will soon prove that supremacy of yours flawed."

"Bwahaha, step back you useless wench, I might accidentally kill you while I teach a lesson to this yappy little dog, who dares to bark at his superior." hollered Saber heatedly, his anticipation toward the fight poorly masked. This was the first time he has addressed the girl standing closely behind him, and Kiritsugu decided to give her a closer look now that she might actually participate.

She was in her late teens, early adulthood, distinctly of Caucasian descent, slightly above average height, and slim. Her hair reached the middle of her back in straight, dull dark blonde locks that Kiritsugu had often seen in Western and Central Europe. Her face was framed by mid-chin strands and a fringe. She wore a dark navy coat that was not a designer brand, but had a feminine cut that was most likely considered fashionable to the man's best knowledge, and the garment at least looked appropriate for the weather. Any attempts at a refined look were countered though by a pair of large purple and pink rimmed glasses that had enormous decorations on the side, and a bulky backpack.

Apart from the obnoxious glasses, the girl was entirely unremarkable, and had very little presence, especially next to an attention-hogging man like Saber. It was no surprise that the Magus Killer had not given her a second glance previously. Actually, he had to wonder if such a weak, and normal looking person could really have summoned the golden Servant in front of her, or if a clever Master wanted everyone to think she was the summoner. It was certainly an idea he had considered, but decided to be too risky with his unpredictable Caster.

"Oi, stupid woman, I'm talking to you…" snapped irritably the man holding a flaming sword. When he received no response, he turned towards the girl who kept facing in the direction of the enemy spirit. There was a faint blush on her cheeks, and she didn't react at all to the blond man, until said man brutally kicked her in the side. "You miserable little pest, how dare you ignore me, in favor of that mutt! Be grateful I'm not twisting your wretchedly ugly little head off your lewd neck here and now."

The young woman crumpled to the ground with a soft grunt, the air most likely having been knocked right out of her chest. Her lack of protest as she curled up to shield herself confirmed Kiritsugu's suspicion that this was not the first time she has been hit by her Servant. Furthermore, she whimpered what sounded like an apology in a language foreign to the ex-mercenary's ears.

"Je vous en prie votre majesté Saber, veuillez me pardonner pour vous avoir grièvement offensé!"*****

"Don't think you can just apologize, bitch!" bellowed an infuriated Saber, stomping for emphasis with one metal-covered foot on the back of the girl, essentially pushing her flat on the ground. For every muffled cry that the young woman let out, the gilded shoe ground deeper in her back while the spirit responsible for her pain continued to chew her out, voice dripping with contempt. "Your incompetence makes me sick. You are not even capable of paying attention to your rightful ruler, I really ought to replace such a good for nothing retainer."

The golden swordsman was interrupted by a loud bang.

"Saber, that's enough!" yelled Lancer with a look of angry disgust on his handsome face. He had successfully grabbed his opponent's attention by slamming the hilt of one of his spears into the ground. The concrete was cracked where the weapon impacted.

"I may have no business in how you conduct yourself towards your Master, but as a Knight I refuse to stand by idle if someone is to abuse a defenseless person before me." declared the spearman proudly. His face then twisted with something more than just disgust as he continued. "Besides, her entranced state was not her fault, but is caused by the magic I was cursed with. If you are angry with someone that should be me, not her."

"I do what I want with her, dog." snarled the blond man at the long weapon user, without letting up on the pressure he was putting on the girl's spine. Her knuckles were white as she gripped at nothing to bite back hisses of pain, and Lancer gritted his teeth. "Her ineptness is the reason why my endless might was brought into this world in such an incomplete state. Her falling victim to a simple charm of yours is just another example why I was exceptionally lenient in letting a fool like her waste this much air."

Saber watched from the corner of his eyes how the exposed muscles on the other Servant's arms flexed, ready to spring into action to stop him. With a sigh, the blonde man lifted his foot, to the relief of the woman below him. Unknown to her, the gold covered warrior smirked, then proceeded to kick her hard again, this time making her skid and tumble several meters.

"Now that she is finally out of my hair, do not make me wait any longer Lancer, or in my boredom, I may end up thinking of better punishments for this shameless eyesore of a whore." said Saber, this time clearly goading his enemy.

"You might not actually be that bad at riling me up, golden swordsman." admitted the spearman, his teeth bared in a feral grimace. The concrete split from the force as his feet pushed away from it to propel his body towards the madly cackling brightly colored Servant holding a flaming sword.

"Why did you turn off the display screen?" queried a confused Kiritsugu when the image in front of him popped out of existence thanks to a white finger placed on the crystal.

"It is going to keep recording anyway, and we can analyze the footage later." said Caster with a shrug. Her hands made quick work of putting her Mystic Code into a standby mode, then concealed it from mundane eyes. "It would be best practice to use this chance to look at things from a closer viewpoint. While my devices are very sensitive, and can record accurately from a distance, there are going to be things that won't be clear due to the positioning of the marker."

"Unfortunately I haven't had the time yet to make my surveillance net as dense as I would have liked it." expanded the jewel wearing mage while starting in the direction of the exit with purposeful steps. Her white dress swished around her soundlessly, and as if she could turn the noise off with a click of a button, not even the softest clinking of the sparkling crystals on the many folds of the dress was heard. "As it is, it's thanks to pure luck that the first fight of the War is happening this close to one of my installations."

"Not that I oppose a proactive approach, but why not use familiars then?" implored Kiritsugu dispassionately, as he fell in step next to his Servant.

"Familiars have their uses, but they do not substitute first-hand experience." explained the woman matter-of-factly. "Besides, my familiars are a bit eye-catching for me to use them for spying. Not to mention, I want to personally ensure that the players of the War get one of my bug devices on them without a hitch, so I can keep each under close watch."

"Hm, yes it would be best to have a close eye on the winner of this match." agreed the ex-mercenary thoughtfully, though he decided to press for further details. He wanted to understand his Servant's abilities better. "However, I thought your surveillance was already quite sophisticated. How come there is a need for such individual tracking?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Kiritsugu, but I don't have the ability to spy on anyone arbitrarily with a crystal ball." crooned the spirit with a mocking tone. She decided to drop the act as the man narrowed his dark eyes at her. "The concept is certainly not unreal, but even with my class specialty giving boosts, I never dug myself deep enough into the realm of detection magic. Of course, the innate class abilities as a Caster type does mean that even like this I'm superior to almost any of the other Servants when it comes to detecting each other, but not quite as good as a specialist of my class would be."

"No need for you to worry though, I have many tricks up my sleeve to make up for any lack of tracking skills I may have." added Caster at Kiritsugu's pensive frown. "Hm, I guess I you could have meant that almost literally… but yes, there are some things I need to do the hard way, like planting a bug on someone I want to follow when they are not exuding their magical signal like a cat in heat. On the other hand, there is next to zero chance of any of them detecting my apparatuses, as the technology doesn't exist in this time yet, and is far from being discovered."

"Hn, let me get my equipment then." The Magus Killer nodded with finality. "In the meantime, do something about that atrocious dress of yours, Caster." he included as an afterthought, but hoped that the fuming woman didn't detect a smirk tugging at his lips as he changed direction to get to his weapons cabinet.

The dark haired man reached his collection in short order, and not a moment later that he internally debated which gun to take, he heard heavy stomping behind him. He did not need to turn around to know who it was.

"Ugh, satisfied?" hissed an irritated female voice.

Kiritsugu lifted a long-range sniper gun out of the array of fire arms, then picked up some rounds for it, and also pocketed a couple flash and smoke grenades. He wasn't particularly planning a fight, but it was better to be prepared. After he placed his rifle into a custom-made black weapon bag that went over his shoulder, he finally looked at the irate woman he called his Servant.

The black orbs of the Magus Killer did well to only widen a fraction in surprise at the profound change. White, flowing dress was replaced by a midnight black body suit that clung close to the spirit's body, decorative patterns now morphed to elegantly fitting panes that mimicked a plated mail armour, and previously sparkling jewels appeared to be absorbing the light rather than scattering it. In addition, the moments ago loose, long hair of the woman was now gathered at the back of her head in a painstakingly complicated array, every strand a deep raven colour. His own dark gaze was met by a matching charcoal.

Intent on not letting the aggravating Servant get any compliments from him on her flawless stealth attire that made her look more like an assassin than a caster, Kiritsugu marched past her without a second glance. As he neared the exit of the mansion, he contemplated how exactly Caster's appearance change worked. If it was illusion based, it was realistic to the last speck, though it made him wonder if what he regarded as her usual look was also a trickery.

"This is at least the fourth time your eyes have changed color today." noted the ex-mercenary offhandly while pushing the small door at the back of the complex open to reveal the Einzbern forest. He was aware that the woman had been at his heels all along, though his ears couldn't pick up her steps, but his battle experience fully alerted him to her presence. "Is it really that important a detail to mask?"

"I pity the women of your generation Kiritsugu, who are deprived of the convenience to match their eye color to their outfit." bemoaned the currently black haired woman with an exaggerated show of fake sympathy. "Now hold on tight, I will jump us to my marker point."

"Are you able to teleport, Caster?" asked a slightly befuddled Kiritsugu. He didn't think his Servant would have such a convenient ability, though he wondered why she haven't used it already. He had judged her to be the type to virtually abuse a skill as effective as that.

"True teleportation is expensive." confessed the spirit with a sigh of regret. "A cheap alternative is using space distortion and wind magic to move between magically marked places at very high speeds. It is only safe if the landing location has been chosen and readied beforehand. As long as I have the time, it is easy enough to set some seals up at a regular grid, and at key locations. Even if we have to walk a bit afterwards to the actual location of the fight, this way should be the fastest transport method."

The Magus Killer felt genuinely impressed for a moment, as his brain was already coming up with ways to fit Caster's ability into a battle strategy where its maximum potential could be exploited. He didn't feel this excited in a while.

"No need to look that baffled." said the spirit in a bored tone. She stretched out her right arm towards the dark haired man. "You should know already that magic that can be prepared in advance is the forte of my class. There are many things I can do with enough time and resources."

Kiritsugu took a hold of the outstretched arm of the Servant, in the meanwhile thinking that he really ought to have a serious talk with her about what she was capable of. If he wanted to be successful in this war, he had to get a better understanding of his partner, whether he wanted to suffocate her in a spoonful of water or not. He guessed it wouldn't be easy work to get her to open up, but he was used to bumpy rides.

Not that much later, the Magus Killer found that last idiom he was thinking to be annoyingly ironic, when he felt his stomach lurch with a mind-boggling force as he was yanked by one Servant's magic.

* * *

A flurry of sharp metallic clangs mixed with static screeches reverberated between the cold stone walls of the basement study room. The resonance meshed into a melody of expert swordplay, a hymn that Tokiomi wasn't all too familiar with. His piercing blue eyes followed in apt fascination the small, blurry figures on the surface of his enchanted obsidian mirror that his former student was projecting into the images of the combat received through his connection with his Servant, Assassin. The darkly clad priest was also attuned to a complex crystal amplifier that made the somatic component of the power of the Mind's Eye audible to others' ears. The devices both required close proximity and immense concentration on Kirei's part, and his relative inexperience was showing in the instable flickering of the scene.

The jewel expert cared little for the deficiencies of the display, after all it was not every day that one could observe such skilled warriors. He knew well to cherish the beauty that lay in the stunning dance of death he had the pleasure to observe. Of course, he was never one to neglect his duties either, and he took special care to commit to memory both the style, and any abilities that the Servants used. This was a golden opportunity to study their potential future enemies, and gain valuable information.

The tanned leather covered lithe body of the spearman twisted at an angle beyond mortal capabilities while retaining a pragmatic grace to it to avoid the flaming slash of the sword aimed to incapacitate in a single blow. The armour was visibly strained both by the stress of the immense heat of the narrowly missed thrust, and the forces of torsion applied by the breakneck execution of skilful evasion that lead into a quick, but powerful stab delivered through the shorter spear of the two. The precise counterattack was just a feint though, and the arm of the warrior holding his lance with longer reach swung in perfect synchrony with his frontal assault to sweep out the legs from behind of his enemy who has entered close range, and as such had little opportunity to deflect attacks from different directions.

Lancer's masterful combination of sheer skill and combat expertise however fell short of cornering his opponent. The golden swordsman appeared to have seen through the trick, and without hesitation pushed the short spear that lacked any true force behind it to the side with his metal gauntlet, while his sword shrouded in a blazing inferno met the longer lance as he sidestepped. The shining warrior used the momentum of the clash to land a savage kick into the dark green clothed abdomen of the spear-wielder.

As the brown haired man tumbled back a few meters, a casual onlooker might have judged his movements to be a mess of limbs and weapons. Yet, as he skidded to a halt, his bigger lance was in the perfect position to intercept the golden warrior's powerful charge. On the other hand, the spearman seemed to have expected that it would take more than that to skewer the approaching blond, and at a carefully timed moment kicked the left side of his body into action to intercept his enemy with his smaller spear, complementing the threat of his other weapon.

No matter how easy it was with Lancer's speed and cunning to ready a pressing situation for his enemy, the darkly clad spirit was wholly unprepared for the devastating force of the sword that struck his longer lance as Saber's two-handed swing connected with it. The spear-wielder was thrown off balance for a moment, and it took little effort on his opponent's part to duck away from his left-handed attack. His advances mostly unbroken, the blonde warrior used the opportunity to backhand the darkly clothed spirit with the hilt of his sword, resulting in a sickening crunch as the bones of the finely angled nose of the brown haired Servant splintered.

Lancer might have been superior in speed and agility, traits which he expertly utilized in devising complicated manoeuvres, yet that wasn't enough to counter the raw power, and keen senses of the golden swordsman. On the surface, the blonde man's swings might have looked careless or simple-minded, but they were laced with a haughty elegance that Tokiomi could not help but attribute to a vast combat experience, and a well-founded confidence in one's abilities. Indeed, the greatest advantage that the lance user might have expected to hold, his dual-wielding, seamlessly incorporated into his intricate and crafty fighting style, seemed to have left Saber completely unfazed. The owner of the blazing sword appeared to always know how to counter everything that the dark green-clad spirit threw at him, always correctly identifying the intent and purpose behind each of the lances. It was as if the golden warrior had a good grasp of not just sword, but also spear techniques.

From what the magus has seen, it was already crystal clear to him who the winner of this match would be. If anything, he thought that the blond spirit was just toying with his prey. The Tohsaka head had no doubts that this Servant would prove to be an exceedingly difficult threat to deal with.

"It is still blurry on my end, Tokiomi." the raspy voice of an older man pulled the red wearing magus from his contemplations.

"Ah, give me a moment Risei." answered the jewel mage obligingly, his voice devoid of irritation if he felt any at being interrupted. "I'll adjust the settings a little bit."

"Hmph, maybe Risei-san should just put on his glasses." His daughter though, still lacked his patience. She was very apparently miffed that her view was obscured when he bent over the obsidian mirror to fine-tune the link it had to an identical device located in a church miles away. The Tohsaka head also didn't miss the amused smile a tall, muscular man clad in red and black sported, observing from the corner of the room. He was confident that Archer's eyesight allowed him to keep track of the combat on the small screen despite his position.

"Rin." Chided the blue eyed man firmly, but quietly so Risei wouldn't hear. For her part, the girl did look at least somewhat embarrassed, so her father continued in a louder tone. "Is it better now?"

"Ah, thank you, Tokiomi." replied the old priest. The magus wearing red directed his attention back to the clash.

The mild shock of having his nose decimated into a bloody mess had forced Lancer on the defensive, and the only thing that let him retreat from the unyielding blows delivered with the fiery passion the burning sword implied was a small, but audible gasp from behind his opponent. The sound clearly angered Saber, and he diverted his attention toward his young Master.

"You better not pity that piss-faced cur, you ugly bitch!" yelled the blond man with undisguised fury at his companion's sympathy towards his opponent. He was obviously taking the gesture as some sort of personal insult. "If you have the time, make yourself useful or I swear I will skin you alive when this is over. Not that you would make an acceptable rug for my exquisite taste, but it would still be a better use than as you are now."

The girl's knees buckled, and she hastily switched from watching the fight, or rather ogling Lancer to taking off and rummaging through the sizeable backpack she carried. When shouting at his Master, Saber only half turned his body in her direction, not completely disregarding the dark haired warrior he had been engaged in battle with. He also didn't seem that surprised when the lance user took the opportunity of his momentary distraction to launch a new assault after having wiped off the blood from his newly healed nose, courtesy of his Master. The leather-clad muscled legs carried the Servant in a superficially unpredictable pattern towards the golden swordsman.

"Did no one teach you" bellowed with indignation the dark green clothed warrior as he raised both his spears to strike, the longer angled low towards his adversary's legs, and the shorter high in the line of his shoulder and neck. "How to treat a lady properly?!"

The bigger lance was deflected with ease by the flaming sword of Saber, and bits of concrete was sent flying as the tip plummeted into the ground. The shorter spear was simply dodged, and the golden warrior wasted no time in drawing his weapon to strike. This time though, Lancer wasn't finished yet. The spear-wielder has used the leverage provided by his long lance stuck in the hard concrete to propel himself up towards the other spirit, a sharp knee aimed straight towards his almost bored looking face. The impact seemed inevitable, yet the swordsman grinned widely as he noticed the advancing limb. The next moment a burst of flames originating from Saber's sword hit the brown haired Servant square in the chest.

"And did no one teach you not to meddle with how someone disciplines their unruly servants?" cooed the blond with malice, then laughed heartily. "Is what I was going to say, but honestly that was a good effort, Lancer. Should I just start torturing this sad excuse for a wench to get you to fight me seriously and make our exchange worth my while, chivalrous knight of the Spear? Who knows, if I get creative, you might even be able to land a blow on me eventually. Really, it would be killing two birds with one stone."

Despite the high-degree burns he had sustained, the spearman was back on his feet, lances held wilfully in position, only his heavy breathing belying his pain. On the other hand, the golden warrior who was yet to receive the slightest scratch did not even look winded. He waited for his opponent to be healed with the calm confidence of someone who knew he could overpower their enemy no matter the circumstances.

"Hm, looking at him now, I think there is no doubt about it." said with conviction the overseer priest of the current Grail War. "He certainly fits the description."

"Indeed." The head of the Tohsaka family nodded in assent, his perceptive sapphire gaze trained on the target of their conversation: the blonde spirit. There were many things that bothered him about the situation, so he voiced his most pressing concern to begin with. "I cannot help but wonder how that girl ended up summoning him when I had the suitable catalyst."

"Maybe the reason you couldn't summon him was that she had already performed the ritual." suggested the older man in a thoughtful tone. "And remember Tokiomi, there can be more than one catalyst available for the same Heroic Spirit. Of course they should be the rarer the older the spirit is, which makes this situation more of a puzzle."

"The mystery should be solved once you ask her about it, Risei." announced the magus when he arrived at the logical conclusion that they simply lacked enough information to speculate further. Given the obvious lack of experience on the fellow Master's part, he was sure that a straightforward approach would prove the most effective.

"You want me to speak with her?" The priest sounded only mildly surprised, yet the jewel using mage could already picture before him how his long-term friend had arched one graying eyebrow at his brazen proposal.

"We know from Kirei's initial description of the combatants that the girl does not have the normal bare minimum of prana output that would classify someone as a magus." explained the magus his conclusions in a composed, objective description. Half his attention was however kept on the enchanted mirror where Lancer's Master was finally making an appearance to instruct his Servant to utilize his Noble Phantasm. It wasn't particularly difficult for Tokiomi to record in the back of his mind the arrogant, though agitated style of the spearman's summoner even as he continued speaking to his cohort at the other end of the obsidian's magical link. "Her lack of magical presence makes it highly unlikely that she is even associated with the Clock Tower. I would not be surprised if she performed an accidental summoning, and wasn't actually aware of what she had been dragged into."

The magus in red laid back comfortably in the velvet-padded chair he was occupying in the dark study. His crystal clear blue eyes watched intently as the bindings on the weapons of Lancer fell away to reveal two strikingly coloured spears. The increased light from the small volcanic glass crystal conveying the display of power illuminated the almost benign smile that crept its way to Tokiomi's features.

"Wouldn't you agree with me Risei," the Tohsaka family head enunciated, choosing his words carefully in the presence of his young daughter, who still retained her childish innocence. "That as the neutral overseer of this War the duty to enlighten this unfortunate soul about the full extent of the danger she is facing would fall on you?"

The caustic chuckle that followed did not come through the magical voice connection. The sound originated from the dark corner of the basement room where a tall man stood, arms crossed indolently in front of a muscled chest. Despite his excellent self-control, Tokiomi glanced towards his acerbic Servant, but the white haired man's face was overcast by shadows. The magus returned his gaze to the display, knowing that it would be futile to try to read the expression of the spirit. Besides, the dark haired man knew that soon enough the warrior would make his opinion very clear in the form of some sarcastic remark.

"Master, are you perhaps thinking of making that girl forfeit to get your hands on the Servant that you have desired all along?" implored the white haired man wryly, never one to pass an opportunity to mock his summoner's habits. In this case his tendency to voice his plans in a wayward manner was being toyed with. While the owner of the red coat did not deign to turn around, the spirit made sure to put on his best grieved expression, and tone as he lamented. "Am I really that disappointing a Servant that you would want to replace me so soon?"

"You can stop your absurd jokes Archer." retorted the older Tohsaka dryly, one hand discreetly gripping the armrest of his chair. His other hand was in a very visible move stroking his small beard, giving him the appearance of being deep in thought. "That Servant looks like far too much of a liability to be useful. He might be very powerful, but he appears to have an immense pride that not only makes him hard to control, but is also a weakness that can be easily exploited. No, I should count myself lucky that I ended up with you instead."

Yes, the thought has crossed his mind initially, it would have been difficult for it not to, but Tokiomi wasn't lying to the steel eyed man. His statement was the genuine conclusion he had to draw after watching the interaction of Saber with his Master. The jewel mage was no fool to think that he would have had an easy time controlling a Servant this unpredictable and lethally volatile. In truth the experienced magus could only feel pity towards the poor girl who had drawn the spirit who apparently lacked even the most basic form of respect towards their summoner.

Of course the Tohsaka was not someone who normally let any sympathy he might have felt affect his judgement when it came to achieving his goals. He had already recognized that the young and most likely naïve woman could prove to be a valuable pawn on the grand scale of the Holy Grail War, if manipulated well enough. That is if she survived for a sufficient period, which was not guaranteed at all by the looks of things. Letting her get through this ordeal in a functioning state would have been the fire mage's preference, but he was painfully aware of the limitations of gallantry or even mercy in the gruesome reality of the situation they were in. He was a kind man, but only to the extent that didn't interfere with his more important interests.

"I bet that Goldie can't make tea or bentos even half as good as you either." The fervent declaration of his daughter dissolved the solemn mood just as easily as the droplets of a light spring shower shattered the tranquillity of the surface a quiet pond. Yet, there was a hint of a small smile tugging at the mage's lips.

"Ah yes, I would consider myself the most unlucky if I didn't have you to serve us refreshments, Archer." conceded Tokiomi to the delight of the child, and the abhorrence of the warrior. The sharp blue orbs of the mage also spied how the tip of those tanned ears were burning with a blush, which prompted the spirit's Master to let his Servant off without further teasing.

As the Tohsaka head mage redirected his full attention to his mirror, he was greeted by a blank black crystal. He was just in time to catch the slight stumble of his former student as he lost concentration, and with it, connection to the enchanted device. While the jewel user knew that it was straining for the priest turned mage to carry out a complex magical task like that for extended periods of time, he was also a good judge of his pupil's capabilities and limits. He didn't need to be told that something went askew on the other end.

"Kirei, what happened?" questioned Tokiomi, his poised tone laced with a hint of urgency.

"This is not good." answered the dark haired priestly man, his eyes shut in a frown, and one callous hand at his brow. "Assassin has detected another Servant arriving, and this spirit has also reacted to his presence."

There was a hard screeching sound when the Tohsaka head pushed back his chair, and stood abruptly. All eyes in the room turned towards him, including the coal black orbs of Kirei. The blue eyed magus took a deep breath, and willed his heartbeat to return to an even rhythm. Things were bound to go awry sometimes, and there was no point in working himself up over it. Calm and collected judgement was the gateway to victory, and the experienced magic user knew he could handle that, and even add some flourish to make it look good.

"Hm, I didn't think they would make an appearance so soon, but to detect your Assassin that Servant must be Caster." stated his assessment the mage, his spine held straight in a dignified pose that sufficiently balanced his earlier rash movement. Tokiomi was a man who liked things to be in order, but most of all he prided himself in the practice of self-control. "Pull back Kirei. We don't want to compromise our hard-earned favourable position just yet. As I had thought, we need to take some special measures when Caster is concerned."

The dark haired man in question nodded in understanding, and proceeded to tap into his mental link with his Servant to comply with the quickly issued order from his former teacher. The man dressed in the dark clothes of a holy man has long since learned to trust the fire mage's insight.

"But Tokiomi, will it not be a shame to miss the chance to see how this battle progresses?" objected the disembodied voice of the older of the Kotomines. The sound connection to the church alcove was not affected by the deactivation of the obsidian mirrors. While some might have called the Tohsaka head paranoid for insisting on keeping magical apparatuses of similar functions separate instead of just lumping them into the same Mystic Codes (not to mention having backups of everything), it did pay off when one malfunctioned. Rather than overcomplicating matters, the fire mage was simply cautious.

"You are right of course Risei, it would be a considerable loss." admitted the man clad in the stylish red coat. He smiled furtively before adding: "Good thing we also have a Servant whose presence being detected won't be a problem."

* * *

***Translation of the French sentence**: I beg your Majesty Saber, please forgive me for having grievously offended you! (Thank you very much **Caladcholg** for providing me with the French phrase!)

* * *

**A/N.:** Phew, that was long to edit. A friend of mine who likes editing finally gave my previous chapters a read, and he told me how I should correctly be doing my speech capitalization. Also he told me to cut back on the adjectives on people (especially pointing out how he didn't want to read one more time how tanned or broad-shouldered Archer is… XD oh well, but he is the GAR-man…), and etc, so I tried correcting this chapter and properly editing, but not sure if I will have time to correct the previous ones too.

So yeah, plot is still moving slow, but at least a teensy bit more action. I think I will now change one of the genres to be action, as I think I have got an ok handle on it, and there should be more in future chapters. Other genre might remain general, or maybe you guys can recommend something?

Ah yeah, I also feel very humbled and grateful for all the reviews, faves and follows. Thank you very much everyone! Actually I would like to state something in a disclaimer fashion due to a reviewer pointing it out:

This fic might be RinxArcher but there absolutely won't be any age inappropriate mature content related to them. I know there is a lot of things in the depths of fandom, but I definitely won't support any sexual content with a child in it.

On the note of mature content, I would also like to state that I definitely don't support abuse as portrayed by Saber towards his Master, but I put the mature tag on this story for a reason. Unfortunately worse things might happen to that poor OC, or others. It's not fully decided yet. (Mature content might not only mean sexual content, I'm still unsure if there will be any of that in this fic… Might not have time).

The full mechanics of how Gilgamesh ended up as Saber will be revealed later on in the story. I'm sure some will argue it's impossible canon-wise, but I wanted to include that prat (come on, it's not like I could have left such a fun to write character out of the story). I know old Gilg is acting here quite differently to Zero, but his circumstances are quite different too, and mostly he is pissed at his Master on a whole different level than in Zero. Yep, the exact reason I decided to give him a novice Master is exactly because I knew how he would hate it (so I loved the idea), and for full hilarity it had to be female to fall under Lancer's charm. Yep, yep all planned out perfectly (also I really didn't think Yuusuke would have survived even this long with Gilg, so I had to design an OOC).

As for Lancer, I left him unchanged, because I did think his character is interesting enough to still be explored without too much repetition, and I definitely loved the idea of pitting him against an arrogant Gilg.

That's all, I think, thank you very much for reading!


End file.
